The February issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine reports "This study indicates that occupational exposure to organic solvents may play a role in the development of fatty liver disease (FLD)..."
Based on 12 cases of FLD classified as having "intense exposure," the study reports a 670 percent increase in FLD (95 percent confidence interval 70% - 4600%). But 12 cases is an exceedingly small sample -- a problem borne out by the wide confidence interval indicating a great deal of variability in the data.
Moreover, this result is not based on any measured exposure. The study authors write "No explicitly quantified exposure was possible to assess, but [intense exposure, e.g., house painters and floor layers] may be thought of as representing occupational exposures likely to have often exceeded permissible exposure levels according to occupational standards."
Just how do they know that? There is no basis for this assumption even as a guess.
Few cases plus no measured exposure data plus overstated results equals "junk science."
And that's just what I expect from editor-in-chief Phil Landrigan, Clown Prince of Chemophobia.
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