University of Pittsburgh, West Virginia University and Johns Hopkins University researchers have discovered that exposure to certain industrial chemicals used to degrease locomotives causes the bridge of tissue between the two hemispheres of the brain to shrink

Risk Management, Nov, 2006

University of Pittsburgh, West Virginia University and Johns Hopkins University researchers have discovered that exposure to certain industrial chemicals used to degrease locomotives causes the bridge of tissue between the two hemispheres of the brain to shrink. The four-year study conducted on railroad workers exposed to the cleansers indicated that the brain shrinkage led to irritability, lack of concentration, memory loss, and depression. Hundreds of railroad workers involved in the study worked with the solvents between 1950 and 1960 at CSX Corp., and some have even been diagnosed with brain damage.

Source: Washington Times; Scan Lengell