WORKPLACE, AGE, AND SEX AS MEDIATORS OF OLFACTORY FUNCTION - DATA FROM THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SMELL SURVEY

Certain medications and environmental agents are known to adversely af fect chemosensation. We report data from 712,000 respondents aged 20 t o 79 to the National Geographic Smell Survey that suggest that exposur e to the factory workplace adversely affects the sense of smell, and t hat these effects interact with age. Men and women with histories of f actory work reported poorer senses of smell relative to other workers. They also demonstrated objective evidence of greater impairment in od or detection. These effects were greater for men. Factory workers of a ll ages more frequently reported olfactory loss secondary to chemical exposure and head injury than did workers in other environments. The h ighest relative risk of olfactory problems secondary to head injury wa s in the oldest women factory workers. Thus, olfaction may behave as o ther senses do: Age, sex, and exposure to noxious events or agents int eract to produce sensory deficits.