An overview of occupational benzene exposures and occupational exposure limits in Europe and North America

Capleton, Alexander C.; Levy, Leonard S.

doi:10.1016/j.cbi.2005.03.007

Cited by 105 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The patients had been exposed for varying periods of time ranging from 6 to 22 years and were removed from exposure on average 2.7 years before evalua-tion. Thus, these observations are probably not representative for western industry, where the time-weighted average exposure is generally much lower and the high exposure during specific tasks usually lasts for brief periods of the work shift [21,24,26]. Table 2 summarizes the characteristics of benzeneassociated myelodysplastic syndrome from workers in China with long-term exposure [88].…”

Section: Benzene-associated Myelodysplastic Syndromementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Patients were referred to hospitals based on initial clinical presentation and/or a medical history of occupationally related benzene intoxication. Their benzene exposure was independently verified, and estimated full-shift exposure averaged between 50 and 300 ppm, which is very high compared with the OEL of 1 ppm benzene or less in most western countries [21]. The patients had been exposed for varying periods of time ranging from 6 to 22 years and were removed from exposure on average 2.7 years before evalua-tion.…”

Section: Benzene-associated Myelodysplastic Syndromementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The OEL is often accompanied by a short-term exposure limit, which is the maximum average concentration to which workers should be exposed for a short period of time (usually 15 minutes). As the hematotoxic and leukemogenic effects have been identified at ever-lower levels, the OEL for benzene has been extensively revised and reduced from 100 parts per million (ppm) in 1946 to values ranging from 0.1 to 1 ppm in 2008 [21]. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists set a Treshold Limit Value of 0.5 ppm in 1997, and the European Union has established a legal binding limit value of 1 ppm [22].…”

Section: Occupational Exposure Limits For Benzenementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Effects Of Benzene on Human Hematopoiesis

Kirkeleit¹,

Riise²,

Gjertsen³

et al. 2008

TOHJ

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Benzene, an aromatic hydrocarbon that is a natural component of crude oil and natural gas, is toxic to the blood and blood-forming organs. Epidemiological studies have established an association between benzene exposure and acute myeloid leukemia, and increasing evidence also indicates a possible association between benzene and multiple myeloma. A specific benzene-associated myelodysplastic syndrome has also been suggested. Chronic hematotoxic effects of benzene exposure, including reduced lymphocyte, neutrophil and platelet counts in peripheral blood, have been detected at occupational exposure below a level that had previously been considered not to cause any health effects. Whether these abnormalities represent bone marrow damage and/or initial events in the development of a true neoplastic disease is not known. Together with a reported nonlinear relationship between benzene exposure and the level of various metabolites, favoring production of biologically reactive quinones at exposure below 1 part per million, these observations suggest that benzene even at low exposure levels may contribute to the risk of acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome, especially among genetically susceptible individuals.

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Section: Benzene-associated Myelodysplastic Syndromementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Benzene-associated Myelodysplastic Syndromementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Occupational Exposure Limits For Benzenementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Effects Of Benzene on Human Hematopoiesis

Kirkeleit¹,

Riise²,

Gjertsen³

et al. 2008

TOHJ

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“…Feitshans (1989) notes that the risks of acute or chronic exposure to benzene were identified as long ago as 1900. Its occupational use is highly regulated, with the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) limiting workplace exposure to benzene in the air to 1 part per million (ppm) during the average 8 hour work day or 15 ppm in a 15 minute period (OSHA, undated; see also Capleton and Levy, 2005). Several studies have reported that even though average benzene emissions have declined markedly during the past decade, there are segments of the population in both Europe and the US that are still exposed to relatively high concentrations (see Cocheo et al, 2000;Ballesta et al, 2006;Whitworth et al, 2008;Raun et al, 2009).…”

Section: Regulating Refinery Benzene Emissionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental leadership? Comparing regulatory outcomes and industrial performance in the United States and the European Union

Gouldson

Carpenter

Afionis

2015

Journal of Cleaner Production

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There is a widely held view that in the period since the early 1990s the European Union (EU) has overtaken the United States (US) as the leader with the most advanced or demanding environmental regulations. However, it is striking that there are very few robust comparative evaluations of the outcomes of environmental regulations or of levels of industrial environmental performance in the EU and the US. This paper seeks to address this by comparing the standards and levels of performance achieved based on a case study of the regulation of a classic air pollutant (benzene) from a widespread industrial sector that has been heavily regulated in both settings for many years (oil refineries). Contrary to expectations, we find that on average normalised levels of emissions from EU refineries are three times higher than those from US refineries, and whilst outcomes in the US show marked convergence towards the best standards, there continue to be wide variations in the outcomes achieved in different EU Member States, despite the rhetoric of harmonisation.

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“…Exposure to benzene can induce chronic benzene poisoning (CBP) characterized by hematotoxicities, leading to pancytopenia, aplastic anemia, and myelodysplastic syndrome (1,2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of Genetic Polymorphisms, mRNA Expression ofp53andp21with Chronic Benzene Poisoning in a Chinese Occupational Population

Sun

Qiu

Zhang

et al. 2009

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &Amp; Prevention

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DNA damage induced by benzene reactive metabolites is thought of as an important mechanism underlying benzene hematotoxicity and genotoxicity, and genetic variation in cell-cycle control genes may contribute to susceptibility to chronic benzene poisoning (CBP). Using a case-control study that included 307 benzene-poisoned patients and 299 workers occupationally exposed to benzene in south China, we aimed to investigate the association between genetic polymorphisms of p53 and p21 and the odds of CBP. To investigate whether benzene exposure may influence mRNA expression of p53 and p21 in benzene-exposed workers, we also chose 39 CBP workers, 38 occupationally benzene-exposure workers, and 37 nonexposure workers in the same region of China. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique was applied to detect polymorphisms of p53 (rs17878362, rs1042522, and rs1625895) and p21 (rs1801270 and rs1059234), and real-time PCR was applied to detect the quantity of gene mRNA expression. We found that p21 C98A variant genotypes (CA+AA) or C70T variant genotypes (CT+TT) were associated with decreased odds of CBP [odds ratio (OR), 0.51; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.32-0.83, and OR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.29-0.95, respectively. Further analysis showed the decreased odds of CBP in the subjects with p21 CC/AT diplotype (OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.30-0.85). In addition, p53 mRNA expression of CBP workers or benzene-exposure workers was significantly lower than that of nonexposure workers. Although these results require confirmation and extension, our results show that polymorphisms in p21 may be protective against the risk of CBP in the Chinese occupational population. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(6):1821-8)

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An overview of occupational benzene exposures and occupational exposure limits in Europe and North America

Cited by 105 publications

References 27 publications

Effects Of Benzene on Human Hematopoiesis

Effects Of Benzene on Human Hematopoiesis

Environmental leadership? Comparing regulatory outcomes and industrial performance in the United States and the European Union

Association of Genetic Polymorphisms, mRNA Expression ofp53andp21with Chronic Benzene Poisoning in a Chinese Occupational Population

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