Self-reported illness from chemical odors in young adults without clinical syndromes or occupational exposures

Journal Article · · Archives of Environmental Health; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/00039896.1993.9938387· OSTI ID:6529256

Bell, I R; Schwartz, G E; Peterson, J M; Amend, D ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson (United States)

The present survey of young adult college students investigated the prevalence of self-reported illness from the smell of five common environmental chemicals (cacosmia): (1) pesticide, (2) automobile exhaust, (3) paint, (4) new carpet, and (5) perfume. Sixty-six percent of 643 students reported feeling ill from one or more of the five chemicals; 15% identified the smell of at least four chemicals as making them ill. Ratings of illness from pesticide correlated weakly but significantly with ratings for the largest number of individual symptoms (9 of 11); daytime tiredness and daytime grogginess both correlated at high levels of significance with illness ratings (on a 5-point scale) for four of the five chemicals. The most cacosmic group (CS) included significantly more women (79%) than the noncacosmic group (NS) (49%); women overall were more cacosmic than men (p < .001), even with the significant covariate of depression. Ratings of cacosmia correlated only weakly with scores for depression (r = 0.16), anxiety (r = 0.08), and trait shyness (r = 0.18) in the total sample. On stepwise multiple regression with cacosmia score as the dependent measure, shyness accounted for 5.8% of the variance, while depression, anxiety, sense of mastery, and repression did not enter the equation. Histories of physician-diagnosed hay fever, but not asthma, were more frequent in the CS (16%) than in the NS group (5%). Without the confounds of chronic illness or specific treatment programs, these data are similar to patterns described clinically for a subset of patients with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), including previous data on increased nasal resistance in MCS. The findings also suggest a limited relationship between degree of self-reported cacosmia and trait shyness, possibly on the basis of limbic hyper-reactivity. Psychological variables did not otherwise account for any of the variance in self-rated illness from chemical odors in this sample. 56 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 6529256
• Journal Information: Archives of Environmental Health; (United States), Vol. 48:1; ISSN 0003-9896
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
ADULTS
SENSITIVITY
SYMPTOMS
TOXIC MATERIALS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
ODOR
ASTHMA
AUTOMOBILES
DISEASE INCIDENCE
EXHAUST GASES
FEVER
MEN
MENTAL DISORDERS
PAINTS
PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES
PESTICIDES
SEX DEPENDENCE
TOXICITY
WOMEN
AGE GROUPS
ANIMALS
COATINGS
DISEASES
FEMALES
FLUIDS
GASEOUS WASTES
GASES
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
MALES
MAMMALS
MAN
MATERIALS
ORGANOLEPTIC PROPERTIES
PRIMATES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISEASES
VEHICLES
VERTEBRATES
WASTES
550100* - Behavioral Biology
552000 - Public Health