Excerpts:

Ryan and co-workers (1988) studied 17 workers who attributed changes in thought processes, particularly memory and concentration difficulties, or changes in mood to their exposure to solvents. Those workers with "cacosmia" (a heightened sensitivity to odors) performed most poorly on neurobehavioral tests requiring verbal learning or visual memory. Although olfactory functioning was not tested objectively in this study, the authors felt their findings supported a hypothesis that chronic solvent exposure may affect the "rhinencephalic structures" (the primitive "smell" brain), the evolutionary precursor of the limbic system. pg92

Shim and Williams (1986), pulmonary specialists, challenged four asthmatics with cologne for 10 minutes; their pulmonary functions tests dropped 18 to 58% below baseline. Of 60 asthmatics they surveyed, 57 complained of respiratory symptoms with exposure to common "odors": insecticide (85 percent), household cleaners (78 percent), perfume or cologne (72 percent), cigarette smoke (75 percent), fresh paint (73 percent), auto exhaust fumes (60 percent), and cooking smells (37 percent). pg178

More excerpts to be added soon....

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