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Chemical sensitivity: the scientific literature
1University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway 08855, USA. nfiedler@eohsi.rutgers.edu.
Environmental Health Perspectives
|March 1, 1997
Summary
Chemically sensitive patients often have higher rates of psychiatric disorders, but more research is needed to understand the cause. Controlled studies are crucial for understanding this condition.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Clinical Psychology
- Toxicology
Background:
- Chemically sensitive patients present complex health challenges.
- Existing literature lacks a unified approach to defining and evaluating this condition.
- Understanding patient profiles and exposure is key to research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review scientific literature on the direct evaluation of chemically sensitive patients.
- To summarize demographic, exposure, and symptom profiles across studies.
- To identify consistent findings and research gaps.
Main Methods:
- Review of controlled investigations comparing chemically sensitive subjects to control groups.
- Analysis of psychiatric, personality, cognitive/neurologic, immunologic, and olfactory studies.
- Consideration of various case definitions and subject profiles.
Main Results:
- The most consistent finding across studies is a higher rate of psychiatric disorders in chemically sensitive patients.
- Comparisons were made to diverse control groups.
- Cross-sectional study designs limit causal inferences.
Conclusions:
- Chemically sensitive patients exhibit a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders.
- Causality between chemical exposure and sensitivity remains undetermined.
- Controlled studies investigating low-level chemical exposure are essential for future research.