An investigation of apparent mass psychogenic illness in an electronics plant.

An investigation of a case of apparent mass psychogenic illness was undertaken in a midwestern electronics assembly plant. The plant employed 500 workers, of whom 80% were female. The illness outbreak involved a total of 90 female first shift workers who reported a variety of nonspecific symptoms such as headache, dizziness, and lightheadedness in response to a strange odor in the workplace.