Introduction / framework / objectives:

Solvents are often used in certain professional sectors.

The notion that most of them present harm to human health is very prevalent; however, more concrete data between some specific solvents and certain medical damages is not so easy to find.

The aim of this review was to elaborate a summary of the most relevant and recent published data on this topic.

Methodology:

This is an Integrative Bibliographic Review, initiated by a April 2019 search of the databases “CINALH plus with full text, Medline with full text, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Methodology Register, Nursing and Allied Health Collection: Comprehensive, MedicLatina, Academic Search Ultimate, Science Direct, Web of Science, SCOPUS and RCAAP”.

Content:

The various Solvents are not all studied to the same depth; those with the most published studies fall into the BTEX group (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene).

Overall, damage is described at various levels, namely at the Central Nervous System, myelodysplasic/ hematological, oncologic, reproductive/ obstetric, hepatic, renal, cutaneous, ophthalmologic, otorrynolaringologic, endocrine, cardiovascular and respiratory dimensions.

Conclusions:

Although it is not difficult to find data on general solvent toxicity, most of the documents found are not very methodologically robust; moreover, while some aspects lack consensus or even present contradictory data, others are generally accepted by most researchers.

It would be pertinent for the issue to be better assessed at national level by occupational health teams with the resources and skills to do so, in order not only to improve the working conditions of the place where they are performing, but also to improve the characterization of the national landscape in this area, and even add something, if appropriate, to what is generally published internationally in this area.

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