ArticleNeurology2012
Occupational solvent exposure and cognition: does the association vary by level of education?
Article in Neurology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Work characteristics, socioeconomic position and health: a systematic review of mediation and moderation effects in prospective studies.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2013Pooled it
- Multidimensional workplace stressors differentially impact cognitive trajectories.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Occupational neurotoxicant exposures, cognitive reserve, and brain aging: a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Association between occupational solvent exposure and cognitive performance in the French CONSTANCES study.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2020Article
- Neurobehavioral Effects of Organic Solvents Exposure Among Wood Furniture Makers in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Southwestern Nigeria.Journal of health & pollution · 2019Article
- Physical occupational exposures and health expectancies in a French occupational cohort.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2017Article
- Noise and neurotoxic chemical exposure relationship to workplace traumatic injuries: A review.Journal of safety research · 2017Review
- Domains of cognitive function in early old age: which ones are predicted by pre-retirement psychosocial work characteristics?Occupational and environmental medicine · 2016Article
- Workplace Exposures and Cognitive Function During Adulthood: Evidence From National Survey of Midlife Development and the O*NET.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2016Article
- Occupational biomechanical exposure predicts low back pain in older age among men in the Gazel Cohort.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2015Article
- Time may not fully attenuate solvent-associated cognitive deficits in highly exposed workers.Neurology · 2014Article
- Physical occupational exposures during working life and quality of life after labour market exit: results from the GAZEL study.Aging & mental health · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveChronic occupational solvent exposure is associated with long-term cognitive deficits. Cognitive reserve may protect solvent-exposed workers from cognitive impairment. We tested whether the association between chronic solvent exposure and cognition varied by educational attainment, a proxy for cognitive reserve.
methodsData were drawn from a prospective cohort of French national gas and electricity (GAZEL) employees (n = 4,134). Lifetime exposure to 4 solvent types (chlorinated solvents, petroleum solvents, benzene, and nonbenzene aromatic solvents) was assessed using a validated job-exposure matrix. Education was dichotomized at less than secondary school or below. Cognitive impairment was defined as scoring below the 25th percentile on the Digit Symbol Substitution Test at mean age 59 (SD 2.8; 88% of participants were retired at testing). Log-binomial regression was used to model risk ratios (RRs) for poor cognition as predicted by solvent exposure, stratified by education and adjusted for sociodemographic and behavioral factors.
resultsSolvent exposure rates were higher among less-educated patients. Within this group, there was a dose-response relationship between lifetime exposure to each solvent type and RR for poor cognition (e.g., for high exposure to benzene, RR = 1.24, 95% confidence interval 1.09-1.41), with significant linear trends (p < 0.05) in 3 out of 4 solvent types. Recency of solvent exposure also predicted worse cognition among less-educated patients. Among those with secondary education or higher, there was no significant or near-significant relationship between any quantification of solvent exposure and cognition.
conclusionsSolvent exposure is associated with poor cognition only among less-educated individuals. Higher cognitive reserve in the more-educated group may explain this finding.
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