Health consequences of involuntary exposure to benzene following a flaring incident at British Petroleum refinery in Texas City

D’Andrea, Facro Mark A.; Singh, DO Omesh; Reddy, Mha G. Kesava

doi:10.5055/ajdm.2013.0124

Cited by 10 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…On the other hand, the toxicity of organic solvents and aromatic hydrocarbons (toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes) has been widely recognized in the literature [13]. Aromatic hydrocarbons affect lymphatic, hematopoietic, hepatic, renal and nervous systems [14,15]. In addition, they cause acute effects on skin and mucous membranes [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization and Sources of Aromatic Hydrocarbons (BTEX) in the Atmosphere of Two Urban Sites Located in Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico

Bretón

Ucan³

et al. 2017

Atmosphere

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Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, O 3 , NO x , CO, PM 2.5 and meteorological parameters were measured in urban air of two sites in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico during 2016-2017. Samples were collected using 1.5 h time intervals at three different sampling periods before being analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. The highest concentrations of BTEX occurred during midday and afternoon in spring and summer seasons. Mean concentrations of, BTEX for the Cholul and SEDUMA sites, respectively, were 40.91 µg/m 3 and 32.86 µg/m 3 for benzene; 6.87 µg/m 3 and 3.29 µg/m 3 for toluene; 13.87 µg/m 3 and 8.29 µg/m 3 for p-xylene; and 6.23 µg/m 3 and 4.48 µg/m 3 for ethylbenzene. The toluene/benzene and xylene/ethylbenzene concentration ratios indicated that BTEX levels at both sites were influenced by local and fresh emissions (vehicular traffic). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed in order to correlate BTEX concentrations with criteria air pollutants to infer their possible sources. Health risk assessment revealed that exposure to benzene exceeded the recommended value for the integrated lifetime cancer risk. These results suggest that Merida's population is exposed to cancer risk, and changes in the existing environmental policies should therefore be applied to improve air quality.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization and Sources of Aromatic Hydrocarbons (BTEX) in the Atmosphere of Two Urban Sites Located in Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico

Bretón

Ucan³

et al. 2017

Atmosphere

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“…Although benzene-exposed male subjects had significantly higher mean serum AST levels (IU/l) as compared with unexposed male subjects (33.3±6.2 vs. 21.9±5.5, p = 0.0158), no significant differences were observed between benzene-exposed and unexposed female subjects (21.1±5.2 vs. 18.6±4.9, p = 0.129). Similarly, benzene-exposed male subjects had significantly higher mean serum ALT levels (IU/l) as compared with unexposed male subjects (37±7.8 vs. 27.8±4.6, p = 0.023), no significant differences were observed between benzene-exposed the BP's prolonged flaring incident [23]. More specifically, in this study, we evaluated and compared the hematological and hepatic functions among benzene-exposed smoking subjects vs. unexposed smoking subjects.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…To assess the potential health consequences of this ambient benzene exposure that resulted from the BP flaring incident, a series of studies are being conducted examining the hematological and hepatic functions in affected subjects. The initial findings of these studies have revealed that benzene exposure has significantly altered the hematological and hepatic indices in the case of the exposed subjects as compared with the unexposed subjects [23][24][25][26][27]. In addition, those persons exposed to benzene had a range of illness symptoms and an altered profile of urinary phenol indicating their vulnerability to increased health complications [28].…”

Section: Ijomeh 2017;30(6)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The subjects' selection and the procedures used for the clinical and laboratory evaluations had been reported previously in detail [23][24][25][26][27][28]. Briefly, between June 2010 and October 2012 subjects underwent clinical as well as laboratory evaluations and their data is included in the study.…”

Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), confidentiality of information was secured by utilizing text encryption, password protection and limited personnel involvement. subjects who were unexposed to benzene were drawn from primary care clinics located approximately 30-50 miles away from the BP refinery plant [23][24][25][26][27][28]. Specifically, unexposed subjects to benzene were selected randomly by the primary care physician following their visit to the clinic for a routine wellness checkup.…”

Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Benzene exposure from the BP refinery flaring incident alters hematological and hepatic functions among smoking subjects

D’Andrea¹,

Reddy²

2017

Int J Occup Med Environ Health

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Objectives: To evaluate the health effects of benzene exposure among smoking subjects from a prolonged flaring incident that occurred at the British Petroleum (BP) refinery in Texas City, USA. Material and Methods: The study included smoking subjects who had been exposed and unexposed to the benzene release. Using medical charts, clinical data including white blood cell (WBC) counts, platelet counts, hemoglobin, hematocrit, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in the case of smoking subjects exposed to benzene was reviewed and analyzed. Results: A total of 791 tobacco smoking subjects (benzene-exposed: N = 733, unexposed: N = 58) were included. Benzene-exposed subjects had significantly higher levels of WBC (×10 3 /μl) counts (8±2.1 vs. 7.5±1.6, p = 0.003) and platelet (×10 3 /μl) counts (263.7±69.7 vs. 222.9±44.3, p = 0.000) as compared with the unexposed subjects. The mean hemoglobin, hematocrit, BUN, and creatinine levels did not differ significantly between the benzene-exposed and -unexposed smoking subjects. Serum levels of ALP (IU/l) was significantly elevated in the benzene-exposed subjects compared with the unexposed subjects (84.5±16.9 vs. 73.8±15.9, p = 0.002). Similarly, benzene-exposed subjects had significantly higher levels of AST and ALT as compared with those unexposed subjects. Conclusions: Despite a smoking history, residents exposed to benzene from the prolonged BP flaring incident experienced significant alterations in hematological and hepatic functions indicating their vulnerability to the risk of developing hepatic or blood related disorders. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(6):849 -860

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Volatile Organic Compounds Released During the Fast Pyrolysis of Peanut Shells and Environmental Implications

Aguirre

Lobos

Basto

et al. 2022

Bull Environ Contam Toxicol

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Health consequences of involuntary exposure to benzene following a flaring incident at British Petroleum refinery in Texas City

Cited by 10 publications

References 35 publications

Characterization and Sources of Aromatic Hydrocarbons (BTEX) in the Atmosphere of Two Urban Sites Located in Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico

Characterization and Sources of Aromatic Hydrocarbons (BTEX) in the Atmosphere of Two Urban Sites Located in Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico

Benzene exposure from the BP refinery flaring incident alters hematological and hepatic functions among smoking subjects

Volatile Organic Compounds Released During the Fast Pyrolysis of Peanut Shells and Environmental Implications

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