On Sat, 12 Jun 1999, bonnie greer wrote:

> I worry about the xylene causing headaches and depression!!!!! what are
> the effects of 25 years of exposure? Does anyone really have the facts?
> Does anyone know about the muscle pain we all seem to have????

   These questions are impossible to answer. It seems unlikely
   that one compound would cause such a lot of symptoms. Exposure
   to xylene fumes has been known for 60 years to depress red
   blood cell production in some people, and daily exposure might 
   well have other effects. So might a daily doee of corn-flakes
   or tea. It is tempting to pin the blame for symptoms on a
   chemical used at work, but difficult to come up with proof.

 John A. Kiernan,
 Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology,
 The University of Western Ontario,
 LONDON,  Canada  N6A 5C1