A new study by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) has just assessed the impact of solvents on cognitive disorders in seniors and in particular on the persistence of disorders when exposure has ceased.
Solvents are frequently used in the workplace. They are used to clean metals, dilute paints, strip varnishes, purify perfumes during their manufacture … Repeated (or chronic) exposure to these liquids can cause cancer and be harmful to fertility. It can also be the cause of movement disorders, depression and cognitive disorders.
Poor cognitive performance
In this study published in the journal Neurology, Dr Claudine Berr, research director, and her French and American colleagues, carried out a battery of cognitive tests on 2,143 men over the age of 55, retired on average for 10 years. In total, 33% of participants had been exposed during their working life to chlorinated solvents, 26% to benzene and 25% to petroleum solvents.
Researchers have thus shown that high exposure to solvents was associated with poorer cognitive performance. Thus, for the high doses of chlorinated solvents alone, retirees had a 20% to 50% higher risk of poorer cognitive performance. For the doctor, this indicates that “these employees keep the traces of their exposure at work, even if they are retired and even if this exposure has not been present for a long time”.
These results will have to be confirmed by another study which will follow 200,000 people aged 18 to 70, a quarter of whom have been professionally exposed to solvents.
