TY - JOUR T1 - Can solvent inhalation be the cause of occupational asthma? JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 44 IS - Suppl 58 SP - P4143 AU - Vicky Moore AU - Alastair Robertson AU - Sherwood Burge Y1 - 2014/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P4143.abstract N2 - We present a case of a 48 year old maintenance engineer with wheeze and shortness of breath for the last 8 months. He was better on his second day off work and better on holidays. Since age 31 he had been exposed to various glues, solvents and cleaning agents. He was an ex-smoker, atopic with no family history of asthma. He had mild non-specific bronchial reactivity at 600 µg methacholine (Yan method). He carried out serial peak expiratory flow (PEF) measurements which showed occupational asthma (Oasys score 3.60). Specific inhalation challenges (SIC) showed an immediate reaction to C-Solve solvent. The solvent contained a cherry base fragrance with ingredients of benzaldehyde, eugenol and limonene amongst other things. Eugenol sensitivity has been described in a case previously, therefore further SICs were carried out using C-Solve with and without eugenol, eugenol alone and Prosolve which contains the same solvent as C-Solve (acetone and propan-2-ol) but without the cherry base. The tests revealed no problems with eugenol or Prosolve.In conclusion, solvents alone are unlikely to cause occupational asthma, but the scents or additives within them are a probable cause. In our case, limonene is the most likely agent, but further SICs were not carried out to confirm this. The gentleman has now been relocated away from C-Solve use and is well. ER -