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Post: Organic solvents exposure at work
Posted by Kenneth on 4/14/08

In trying to make a long story short, I worked for Union
oil research facility in California as an electrician in
the early 1980s. I work daily with toluene and
trichloroethylene 111 as a cleaning solvent with no type
of safety equipment like gloves or respirators
whatsoever. I worked with these organic solvents among
others for approximately 2 1/2 years and had some slight
neurological effects like sleepiness, dizziness and loss
of depth perception. The symptoms would come and go and I
thought nothing of them. I left the facility and went to
work on my own as an electrical contractor and didn't
notice any more symptoms until I went to do a job at an
Air Force base which also had lots of solvents throughout
the plant. The symptoms were tingling and numbness in my
ring and pinky fingers of each hand. I thought it could
be a pinched nerve and I consulted chiropractic
consultation. I was traded approximately a year and a
half and then numbness and tingling seem to go away. The
next time any symptoms started was while I was working
temporarily approximately 3 months at a nuclear power
plant during a power outage. Again I went back to the
chiropractor and after several months of treatment, he
referred me to a neurologist. The neurologist had me
undergo an MRI and after seeing the multiple plaques on my
brain and spinal cord I was told I had MS and further
testing would be needed. I went through numerous tests
including lumbar punctures and Evoke potentials and all of
the testing came back normal. So based on the MRI only, I
have been treated for MS for the past 15 years. Over the
past several years I started seeing An Internist who felt
he might be able to help my condition. And has tried me
and different infusion therapies to help my body repair
itself. In December of 2007, a genetic blood lab called
Athena diagnostics in Worcester, Massachusetts started
accepting insurance and my doctor decided to send my blood
to them to see if I have any at the anti-bodies of MS.
Again the results were negative and it has proven to the
doctor that I do not have MS. So that's when I started
thinking about where I was and what I was doing when I
first had any kind of symptoms. That's what I remembered
working with toluene and trichloroethylene 111. So I
decided to research on the Internet both these solvents
and discovered that all the symptoms I have that currently
has me confined to an electric wheelchair as basically a
quadriplegic, has been caused by these organic solvents.
What I am looking for now is other people with similar
stories and possibly some legal guidance. I would love to
hear from anybody who has possibly work in the same oil
industry and you might know other people who has gone
through the same misdiagnosis. Thank you for your time,
Ken

Posts on this thread, including this one

Organic solvents exposure at work, 4/14/08, by Kenneth.

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