Raynaud's phenomenon in medical laboratory workers who work with solvents

To investigate whether there is an association between Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) and exposure to organic solvents in laboratory workers.

Technicians, scientists, and laboratory assistants working in histology, cytology, and transfusion medicine were surveyed about their use of solvents, particularly xylene and toluene, and about symptoms of RP. There were 341 responses. OR for having worked with solvents were calculated with logistic regression adjusted for age and sex.

Laboratory workers who had worked with solvents had higher rates of severe RP, particularly those who had worked with xylene or toluene and either acetone (OR 8.8, 95% CI 1.9-41.1), or chlorinated solvents (OR 8.9, 95% CI 1.9-41.6), xylene or toluene and acetone compared to those who had worked with xylene or toluene but not acetone (OR 4.5, 95% CI 1.2-16.2), and similarly for chlorinated solvents (OR 4.5, 95% CI 1.2-16.3). RP symptoms occurring in the absence of cold exposure were more frequent for those who had worked with any solvent (OR 3.6, 95% CI 1.2-10.5) and just xylene or toluene (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.1-7.3). Associations were also seen between increasing exposure to xylene or toluene and severe RP (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.7, per 10 years) and with symptoms occurring in the absence of cold exposure (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2-2.5, per 10 years).

We found that exposure to solvents may be associated with the development of RP, supporting previous work indicating that solvent exposure may be an etiological factor in systemic sclerosis.