In this article, investigators report on the presence and nature of chemical sensitivities and other indices of illness in a cohort of workers excavating a new subway tunnel located under a former
gasoline station. The workers were exposed to
gasoline fumes for up to approximately 2 mo when they inadvertently dug into soil contaminated by
gasoline. The cohort was unique in several ways: (a) contact with
gasoline was made by the workers at a time when no one had complained of
multiple chemical sensitivities syndrome; (b) all were males of low socioeconomic status; (c) the exposure was well documented; (d) the cohort could be considered "naive" because, at the time of the study, the men were not members of support groups and were not being seen by clinical ecologists, and they were not labeled, either by self or others, as having
multiple chemical sensitivities syndrome or any related diagnosis; and (e) at the time of interview, all workers we contacted appeared to be either gainfully employed or laid off temporarily and seeking gainful employment. We explored the health status of the workers at two different times: (1) soon after the tunnel was closed as a result of high, measured
benzene-exposure levels and (2) 10-13 mo after the tunnel was closed. The workers were chronically overexposed to
gasoline fumes, after which approximately one-fourth (26.7%) of our random sample of relatively naive, low-socioeconomic-status male laborers-although neither disabled nor generally litigious-reported the new onset of chemical
hypersensitivities and other characteristics that fit conservative criteria for
multiple chemical sensitivities syndrome.