Exposure to organic solvents--II. An exposure epidemiology study.

The recognition of the 'solvent syndrome' as an occupational disease in Denmark has created a need for mapping the exposure to organic solvents. Exposure levels to organic solvents were measured at 372 representative processes in Danish manufacturing and service industries. Half of the results calculated as sigma(Ci/TLVi) were below 0.25, a quarter between 0.25 and 1, and a quarter above 1. The printing and chemical industries were found to have higher exposure levels than other industries. The commonest processes had the highest exposure levels. A comparison of exposure to organic solvents and incidence of cases recorded as suffering from 'solvent syndrome' in different industries, shows that a causal relationship cannot be disproved by the present findings.