1716 Environmental intolerance – a continuum from annoyance to severe illness

Aim of the special session Intolerance may develop to various everyday environmental exposures at levels that are well below those known to cause adverse health effects. Reactions initiate typically from odorous substances, but also from non-perceivable factors considered harmful to health, e.g. electrical devices. Reactions range from unpleasant sensations and annoyance to multi-organ symptoms, severe disability, and major restrictions in daily life and work. Symptoms often lead to exposure assessments at work and may result in excessive actions to eliminate minor exposures. In environmental intolerance, occupational health care is the front line actor in primary and secondary prevention, and support of recovery. Markku Sainio1, Anna-Sara Claeson2, Christoph van Thriel3, Kenichi Azuma4, Lena Hillert5, Martin Tondel6,7 1Work Environment, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland 2Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Sweden 3Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, TU Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany 4Kindai University Faculty of Medicine, Osakasayama, Japan 5Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden 6Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden 7Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden