[1][2][3][4][5] The multiple names of solvent-induced syndromes combined with inconsistency in research methods makes referencing this disease difficult and its catalog of symptoms vague.
[citation needed] Reported neurological symptoms include difficulty sleeping, decrease in intellectual capacity, dizziness, altered visual perceptive abilities, affected psychomotor skills, forgetfulness, and disorientation.
Neurological signs include impaired vibratory sensation at extremities and an inability to maintain steady motion, a possible effect from psychomotor damage in the brain.
[citation needed] A 1988 study indicated that some solvent-exposed workers developed loss of smell or damage to color vision; however this may or may not have been actually caused by exposure to organic solvents.
A case study of a painter diagnosed with CSE reported that the patient frequently felt defensive, irritable, and depressed because of his memory deficiencies.
[4] Organic solvents that cause CSE are characterized as volatile, blood soluble, lipophilic compounds that are typically liquids at normal temperature.
[2][10] These can be compounds or mixtures used to extract, dissolve, or suspend non-water-soluble materials such as fats, oils, lipids, cellulose derivatives, waxes, plastics, and polymers.
These solvents are often used industrially in the production of paints, glues, coatings, degreasing agents, dyes, polymers, pharmaceuticals, and printing inks.
The solvents responsible for neurological effects dissipate quickly after an exposure, leaving only indirect evidence of their presence, in the form of temporary or permanent impairments.
Her paper described a case of workers who developed carbon disulfide intoxication at a rubber manufacturing company and coined the term "psycho-organic syndrome".
[citation needed] Studies of solvent effects on intellectual functioning, memory, and concentration were carried out in the Nordic countries, with Denmark spearheading the research.
Statistics published in 2012 by Nicole Cherry et al. claim that at least 20% of employees in Finland still encounter organic solvents at the workplace, and 10% of them experience some form of disadvantage from the exposure.
[3] Studies of instances of CSE have specifically been carried out in naval dockyards, mineral fiber manufacturing companies, and rayon viscose plants.