Cacosmia in healthy workers

Self-reported cacosmia (i.e. feeling ill from the odour of xenobiotic subst ances) was studied in 151 young, healthy workers, unexposed eo unpleasant o dours and working in food stores without air-conditioning. Almost half(46%) of the sample reported feeling ill from the smell of chemical materials. C hemical odour intolerance induced headache, itching eyes, irritated or cong ested nose, dry and/or sore throat, cough, dizziness, and itching or rash. Cacosmic subjects showed a slight prevalence of the female sex, and had sig nificantly higher symptom scores, anxiety, and depression than non-cacosmic subjects. Cacosmia may be related to multiple chemical sensitivity, sick-b uilding syndrome and psychopathology Individual variability in odour tolera nce may substantially bias epidemiological studies on indoor air quality an d health.