EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 PM ET, November 04, 2026
Exposure to petroleum-based lubricants at work associated with MS risk
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2026
Highlights:
- Exposure to petroleum-derived lubricants in the workplace was associated with 38% higher odds of multiple sclerosis.
- The study involved 2,872 people with MS and 6,122 people without MS in Sweden.
- A total of 251 people with MS, or 8.7%, reported occupational exposure to petroleum-derived lubricants, compared with 399 people without MS, or 6.5%.
- Petroleum-derived lubricants included engine oil, hydraulic oil and cutting fluids used to cool or lubricate metal during metalworking.
- The association was stronger among current smokers and people who lack a gene linked to lower MS risk.
- The study does not prove that petroleum-derived lubricants cause MS. It only shows an association. Other workplace exposures may have affected the results.
MINNEAPOLIS — Exposure to petroleum-derived
lubricants at work, including engine oil, hydraulic oil and cutting fluids used
to cool or lubricate metal during metalworking, is associated with higher odds of
multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study published November 4, 2026, in Neurology®, the medical journal
of the American Academy of Neurology. The study
does not prove that exposure to these lubricants causes MS. It only shows an
association.
MS is a chronic disease in which the immune system attacks
the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Researchers have identified both
genetic and environmental factors associated with an increased risk of the
disease.
“Previous research has linked lung irritants such as
cigarette smoke, organic solvents and air pollution to MS risk, but
petroleum-derived lubricants have not been closely studied,” said study author
Anna Karin Hedström, MD, PhD, of Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.
“Our findings suggest that exposure to these products in the workplace, which
is common in industrial settings, is associated with higher odds of MS,
especially when combined with smoking or certain genetic characteristics.”
The study involved 2,872 people with newly diagnosed MS and 6,122
people without MS who were matched by age, sex and residential area.
Participants had an average age of 35 and lived in Sweden.
Participants completed questionnaires about their work
histories and possible exposure to cutting lubricants and fluids, engine oil,
hydraulic oil and concrete form oil. Researchers defined workplace exposure as
contact with at least one of these substances before the year a participant’s
first MS symptom occurred.
Among those exposed to these lubricants, common occupations
included metalworking, construction, automotive repair and machinery
maintenance.
A total of 251 people with MS, or 8.7%, reported
occupational exposure to petroleum-derived lubricants, compared with 399 people
without MS, or 6.5%.
After adjusting for age, sex, residential area, smoking and
other factors, people who reported exposure had 38% higher odds of MS than
people who did not report exposure.
Researchers also found that the odds of MS increased modestly
with longer exposure. For each additional year of exposure, the odds rose by
2%. The odds also rose by 2% for each additional hour of exposure per week. Higher
amounts of exposure were also linked to an increase in the odds of MS.
Because biological changes related to MS may begin years
before symptoms appear, researchers repeated the analysis including only people
who were exposed at least seven years before their first symptom. The
association remained, with exposed participants having 55% higher odds of MS.
Researchers also looked at whether smoking and genetics
changed the association. Genetic data were available for a smaller group of
people. Among people exposed to petroleum-based lubricants, those who smoked
had higher odds of MS than would be expected from adding the separate effects
of smoking and exposure. The same was true for people who lack a gene linked to
lower MS risk. Those who were exposed, smoked, carried a gene variant linked to
higher MS risk and lacked a gene variant linked to lower risk) had more than 33
times the odds of developing MS compared to people who had none of these
factors. Hedström noted only 16 people with MS and two people without MS were
in this group, so the estimate is less precise.
“These findings point to the need for a closer look at
workplace exposures that may play a role in MS risk,” said Hedström. “Future
studies should gather more detailed information about when people were exposed to
these lubricants and how much they were exposed to at work.”
A limitation of the study was that participants reported
their own exposure to the lubricants, and they may not have remembered or
classified exposure accurately. Another limitation was that other workplace
exposures may have affected the results. The researchers said the findings need
to be confirmed in other groups of people.
The study was supported by the Swedish Research Council; the
Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare; the Swedish
Brain Foundation; the Swedish Medical Research Council; and the Margaretha af
Ugglas Foundation.
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