Hanyang Med Rev.  2010 Nov;30(4):313-318.

Occupational Diseases in Workers Exposed to Organic Solvents

• Kim H

Abstract

Organic solvents are hydrocarbon-based substances that dissolve another substance. Organic solvents are usually lipid soluble, volatile and commonly used for painting, printing, degreasing, cleaning, thinning and extraction. Due to their volatility and lipid solubility, organic solvents are easily absorbed across the alveolar-capillary membrane and through the skin. Because organic solvents are lipophilic, they tend to be distributed to lipid-rich tissue, such as adipose tissue, nervous system and liver. Almost all organic solvent can induce skin diseases such as acute irritant dermatitis and chronic eczema. Some organic solvents are associated with allergic contact dermatitis. General and nonspecific central nervous system depression is another common toxic effect induced by most organic solvents. It shows symptoms which are the same as those from alcohol drinking, and those symptoms are completely resolved by removal from exposure to solvents. Long term and repeated exposures to organic solvents can also lead to chronic adverse neurobehavioral effects. These effects are also called as chronic toxic encephalopathy, chronic solvent intoxication and psycho-organic syndrome, and commonly reported symptoms of them are headache, depression, anxiety, and impairment of recent memory. Organic brain lesions can be found in workers suffering from psycho-organic syndrome, and in this case, there is a possibility of persistent disabilities. Carbon disulfide, n-hexane, and methyl n-butyl ketone are specifically toxic to the peripheral nervous system, and cause a symmetric ascending sensory and motor polyneuropathy. Halogenated hydrocarbons including carbon tetrachloride show toxic effects on the heart, liver, kidney, and blood. Toluene can sensitize the heart to arrhythmogenic effects of epinephrine, so sudden death in young and healthy people can be ensued from glue sniffing. Benzene is able to induce any type of leukemia, especially in victims with benzene-associated aplastic anemia. Exposure to some solvents during pregnancy has potential to induce congenital malformation and spontaneous abortion. In the treatment of diseases by organic solvents, the first step should be removal from exposure to the causative solvent.

Keyword

Organic solvent; Lipid solubility; Toxic effects; Dermatitis; Encephalopathy; Polyneuropathy; Leukemia

MeSH Terms

Abortion, Spontaneous
Adipose Tissue
Alcohol Drinking
Anemia, Aplastic
Anxiety
Benzene
Brain
Carbon Disulfide
Carbon Tetrachloride
Central Nervous System
Death, Sudden
Depression
Dermatitis
Dermatitis, Allergic Contact
Dermatitis, Irritant
Eczema
Epinephrine
Female
Headache
Heart
Hexanes
Humans
Hydrocarbons, Halogenated
Inhalant Abuse
Kidney
Leukemia
Liver
Membranes
Memory
Methyl n-Butyl Ketone
Nervous System
Neurotoxicity Syndromes
Occupational Diseases
Paint
Paintings
Peripheral Nervous System
Polyneuropathies
Pregnancy
Resin Cements
Skin
Skin Diseases
Solubility
Solvents
Stress, Psychological
Toluene
Volatilization
Benzene
Carbon Disulfide
Carbon Tetrachloride
Epinephrine
Hexanes
Hydrocarbons, Halogenated
Methyl n-Butyl Ketone
Resin Cements
Solvents
Toluene

Reference

1. Lee SH. Catholic University Department of Preventive Medicine, Catholic Industrial Medicine Center. Organic solvent. Occupational health. 2003. 3rd ed. Seoul, Korea: Soomoonsa;1277–1292.

2. Rosenberg J, Cone JE, Katz EA. LaDou J, editor. Solvents. Current occupational and environmental medicine. 2004. 3rd ed. Boston, USA: McGraw-Hill;503–536.

3. Kawamoto T, Koga M, Murata K, Matsuda S, Kodama Y. Effects of ALDH2, CYP1A1, and CYP2E1 genetic polymorphisms and smoking and drinking habits on toluene metabolism in humans. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 1995. 133:295–304.

4. Kamijima M, Hisanaga N, Wang H, Nakajima T. Occupational trichloroethylene exposure as a cause of idiosyncratic generalized skin disorders and accompanying hepatitis similar to drug hypersensitivities. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2007. 80:357–370.

5. Ikeda M. Public health problems of organic solvents. Toxicol Lett. 1992. 64-65:191–201.

6. van Valen E, Wekking E, van der Laan G, Sprangers M, van Dijk F. The course of chronic solvent induced encephalopathy: a systematic review. Neurotoxicology. 2009. 30:1172–1186.

7. WHO. Field evaluation of WHO neurobehavioral core test. 1986. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO Office of Occupational Health.

8. Sliwinska-Kowalska M. Organic solvent exposure and hearing loss. Occup Environ Med. 2008. 65:222–223.

9. Misirli H, Domaç FM, Somay G, Araal O, Ozer B, Adigüzel T. N-hexane induced polyneuropathy: a clinical and electrophysiological follow up. Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol. 2008. 48:103–108.

10. Himmel HM. Mechanisms involved in cardiac sensitization by volatile anesthetics: general applicability to halogenated hydrocarbons? Crit Rev Toxicol. 2008. 38:773–803.

11. Brautbar N, Williams J 2nd. Industrial solvents and liver toxicity: risk assessment, risk factors and mechanisms. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2002. 205:479–491.

12. Brautbar N. Industrial solvents and kidney disease. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2004. 10:79–83.

13. Smith MT. Overview of benzene-induced aplastic anaemia. Eur J Haematol Suppl. 1996. 60:107–110.

14. Ahmad Khan H. Benzene's toxicity: a consolidated short review of human and animal studies. Hum Exp Toxicol. 2007. 26:677–685.

15. Arrieta MJ, Infante-Rivard C. Organic solvent exposure during pregnancy and congenital malformations. JAMA. 1999. 282:1033.

16. Toutant C, Lippmann S. Fetal solvents syndrome. Lancet. 1979. 1:1356.