Epidemiology, Health Services, The Dow Chemical Company, The Netherlands; Epidemiology, Health Services, The Dow Chemical Company, United States.
Chem Biol Interact. 2010 Mar 19;184(1-2):94-100. doi: 10.1016/j.cbi.2010.01.007. Epub 2010 Jan 13.
At high and prolonged exposure levels (e.g. >30 ppm), benzene can cause hematological effects. However, there is conflicting evidence on potential hematological effects at lower concentrations. We conducted a study to examine hematological effects at low benzene exposure levels in an occupational setting. Extensive exposure data and data from routine hematology examinations were available for Dow employees at the Terneuzen site in the Netherlands. We compared 8532 blood samples of Dow employees with low benzene exposure to 12,173 samples of employees with no benzene exposure that were available for the period between 1981 and 2007. Based on 21,584 benzene air measurements, a Job Exposure Matrix (JEM) was constructed for all employees with exposure. The JEM was used to estimate benzene exposure in the year in which each blood sample was collected. The average lymphocyte counts for the exposed and non-exposed group were similar. By means of mixed model regression adjustments were made for smoking, age and month of blood sample. These adjustments did not change the results and there was no indication for an adverse effect on any of the hematological parameters under investigation. A further stratification of the exposed population into three subgroups (<0.5 ppm, 0.5-1 ppm and >1 ppm) showed no significant differences for any of the hematological parameters between the three exposure categories or compared with the non-exposed group. The analysis modeling the continuous exposure effect relationship showed similar findings. This study does not indicate that workers exposed to low benzene concentrations are at an increased risk for hematological effects.
在高浓度和长时间暴露（例如 >30 ppm）的情况下，苯会对血液系统产生影响。然而，在较低浓度下，苯是否会对血液系统产生潜在影响存在相互矛盾的证据。我们进行了一项研究，以检查职业环境中低浓度苯暴露对血液系统的影响。荷兰特尔内曾特的道氏员工拥有广泛的暴露数据和常规血液检查数据。我们将 8532 份低苯暴露的道氏员工血液样本与 12173 份无苯暴露的员工血液样本进行了比较，这些样本可追溯至 1981 年至 2007 年期间。根据 21584 份苯空气测量数据，为所有有暴露的员工构建了一个职业暴露矩阵（JEM）。该 JEM 用于估计每个血液样本采集年份的苯暴露量。暴露组和非暴露组的平均淋巴细胞计数相似。通过混合模型回归调整了吸烟、年龄和采血月份等因素。这些调整并没有改变结果，也没有迹象表明暴露于苯会对任何调查的血液参数产生不良影响。进一步将暴露人群分为三组（<0.5 ppm、0.5-1 ppm 和 >1 ppm），在三个暴露类别之间或与非暴露组相比，任何血液参数均无显著差异。对连续暴露效应关系进行建模的分析也得出了类似的结果。这项研究表明，暴露于低浓度苯的工人血液系统出现异常的风险没有增加。
