OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO ORGANIC-SOLVENTS AND SLEEP-DISORDERED BREATHING

Study objective: To investigate whether people with occupational expos ure to organic solvents have a higher prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) than the general population and to examine the r elationship between snoring and exposure to organic solvents. Design a nd participants: Consecutive patients, aged 30-64 years, referred duri ng a 3-year period to the sleep laboratory at Avesta Hospital, Sweden, because of suspected OSAS made up the patient groups. Following admis sion, patients underwent a simplified sleep apnea investigation and we re divided into two groups, OSAS (n = 320) and snorers (n = 443). A ra ndom sample of 296 men and 289 women aged 30-64 years obtained from a register of all county residents maintained by the county tax authorit y served as referents (controls). Both patients and referents responde d to two questionnaires, including questions about occupation, exposur e to organic solvents, and other chemical and physical agents. Results : Men with OSAS or snoring and women with snoring had more often been occupationally exposed to organic solvents than the referents, showing an almost twofold increase in risk for those exposed during whole wor kdays. For men, the risk of OSAS or snoring increased with increasing exposure. Conclusion: The result indicates that occupational exposure to organic solvents might cause sleep apnea. A new observation is that even snoring could be caused by exposure to organic solvents. It is i mportant to elucidate whether exposure to organic solvents is a cause of OSAS, because such a finding may have important implications for pr evention and treatment of sleep disturbances.