Document KRbbk57pgbbGYrBEBk7EvM5ow
COMMENTARY
i
Occupational Exposure to Benzene: A Review of
Carcinogenic and Related Health Effects Following the U.S. Supreme Court Decision
Mary C. White, YPH, Peter F. Infante, om,DR PH, and Ballur Walker, Jr., P ~ D ,
M?H
The recent US Supreme Court decision (fndustdal Union Depastment v
American Petroleum Institute, 48 USLW 5022,decided July 2, 1980) on the Occu-
pational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA)proposed standard for low-
ering exposure to benzene in the occupational setting has been a topic of recent
discussion in both the lay [Doninger, 1980: Fishbein, 1980: The New York Times,
1%0] and scientific media [Smith, 1%0].As a result a f t h i s decision, there appears
to be some confusion about the actual toxicity and carcinogenicity of benzene.
A plurality ofjustices in a 5 to 4 decision stated that OSHA had neither made
nor rejected any factual determinations demonstrating "significant risks," to be
defined by the Agency, at the current standard of loparts per million (pprn);nor had
OSHA made or rejected any factual determinations of significant benefits from
lowering the standard to 1 ppm.
decision, however, s h u
be taken to imply that adverse h benzene below the current 10D D ~
.In light of a possible misinterpretation
Gf health effect data related to benzene exposure. we present here both a historical
perspective on the current US standard and an updated review of the pemnent
literature addressing the carcinogenic. mutagenic. and related toxic effect5 of
benzene.
PERSPECTIVE ON THE CURRENT STANDARD
The current OSHA \tandard for occupational expowre to benzene, adopted
in 1971 . is an &hour bme-weighted average ( T W A ) of IO part5 per million (ppm),
with a n acceptable ceiling concentration of 25 ppm 129 CFR 1910.1OOO. Table 2-2).
Excursions above the ceiling are allowed to a maximum peak concentration not to
exceed 50 ppm Evidence
for re&
more
th bv
a)n IO minutes in an.y &. hour work period.
W e n e S r e -ea
sed risk of dev- inn leukemiq, In addition. benzene
Office of Carcinogen Identification and Classification. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S.Department of Labor. Washington. DC (M.C.W.. P.F.I.). Health Standards Programs.OccupationalSafety and Health Administration, U .S. Department of Labor, Washington. DC (B.W.Jr.). .Addre\\ rrpnnt requeyt\ to Mary C White. Occupational Safety and Health Administntion, US Department o f Labor. Washington, DC 202IU. Accepted for pubhca~ionDecember 2 . 1980.
0271-55&j6/80/0102-OU3sO3.50`F 19&0 Alan R. Lis, Inc.
previously had been linked to other serious adverse health effects. including aplas-
tic anemia, pancytopenia, other hematological disorders, and chromosomal aberrations. The primary route of exposure is thougftt to be through the inhalation of benzene vapor [IARC. 19741. although little information is available which adequately addresses the potential for benzene to be absorbed through the skin
[NIOSH.19741. Consequently. in February 1978. OSHA promulgated a revised standard for
occupational exposure to benzene [OSHA. 19781. This standard allowed for an &hour ume weighted average (TWA)of 1 ppm with a ceiling limit of 5 ppm. It was estimated that more than 35.000 workers were exposed to benzene at TWA concentrations greater than I .O ppm. The standard was based on a determination by OSHA that the availabkescientificevidence established that employ& exposed to benzene were at an elevated risk of developing leukemia, nonmal;gnant blood disorders and chromosomal damage. A lower court vacated the revised ( 1 ppm) standard, and the Supreme Court recently upheld the tower court's decision. As a result, the standard adopted in 1971 is currently in effect.
BENZENE CARCINOGENICITY
Epidemiologic Evld.nC0
J'he evidence in the 1977 OSHA benzene record celar-
benzene is a human Ieukemppl;p, In making this determination, OSHA relied upon
an evaluahon ot all the evidence and not on any oneparticular study. partic.ip.ants in
the rulemaking for the most part did not~challLppeben y ~'seleuke-
and
-sneither did the d Court of Appeals for the Fift.h C.ircuit when it vacated the
standard. Wit ' scientific communitv. there IS *-r
bw
instance, the International Agency for Research on Cancer
[ 19791has classified benzene as a chemical for which there is sufficient evidence to
support a causal association between exposure and cancer in humans. Numerous
other scientific reports concur with this conclusion ICEQ. 1980:Cole and Goldman.
1Y7S; NIOSH. 1977: NTP. I%mO].
Two cohort studies have demonstrated an increased incidence of Ihkemia in
workers exposed to benzene. The first is a study by Infante et a1 [ 1977ajof workers
exposed tobenzenein theproduction of Pliofi1m.a rubberfilmmaterial.in twoOhio
industrial facilities. There wa\ a paucity of information regarding atmospheric
levels of benzene to which workers may have been exposed. bst the available data
indicated that average benzene levels generally ranged from
am.
All white males who had been directly exposed to benzene at any time
between I940 to 1949and who were alive on January 1, 1950 were included in the
cohort. The vital status of these workers was determined through June 30. 1975.
Causes of death were determined from death certificates. Medical records were
also reviewed. Those benzene-exposed workers with unknown vital status. com-
prising 25% of the total cohort, were assumed to be alive so that the relative risk of
developing leukemia would be biased toward an underestimate.
Observed deaths among the benzene-exposed cohort were compared with
expected numbers of deaths calculated from both the general US white male
population death rates. adjusted for age and calendar time period. and from the
death rates of a comparison group of fibrous-glass workers employed in Ohioduring
the same period of time.
~ ~ ~ E . r t p a a r e 23ts 0 ~
The investigatorsidentified a significantexcess of deaths from leukemia when
compared to either the general US white male population (SMR = 507.7 observed
deaths vs 1.38 expected, p less than 0.002). or to the fibrous-glass workers 3
(SMR = 473. 7 observed vs 1.48 expected, p less than 0.002).
Subsequent to this initial report, the benzene-exposed population was fol-
lowed further [Infante et al. 1977bl. As the vital status of workers previously
assumed to be alive changed with the identificationoftheir deaths, the number of
person-years of observation they could contribute to the cohort inevitably de-
-creased. As a consequence, this reduction in the number of person-years of obser-
vation necessarily resulted in a reduction in the number of expected deaths due to
leukemia. Because acute myelogeno&&ukemiaand irs acute variants are the cell tmes
of leukemia mosttxmuent~vassociaream6enzene5ex-posure, lntante~eat l I19771
- r r data 10 or- r to take into account me mtribution of .meeifiCEeu
types of leukemia. Of the se\r e n e r v e d leukemia deaths. one w a s classified as
chronic m y e n o u s leukemia and six as acute myelogenous or monocytic
leukemia. The number of expected deaths from acute and monocytic leukemia was
estimated on the basis of National Cancer lnstitute mortality rates for these cell
types of leukemia [Burbank, 197 11. The total expected number of deaths from acute
and monocytic- 1
* was calculated to be O.%. When compared to the SIX
%served cases of acute myelogenous and m n ~ t i ~ l e u k e m itahi,s yielded an
s % ! U m .mus 3-
consiaerca to be conservanve IWrwb reasons. Pirst, me
arates used for determiningthe expected number included cell types other than acute
myelogenous and monocytic leukemias, such as acute lymphatic leukemia.
ond. a 29 year-old cohort member, whose cause of death was listed as chronic
iears of his initial exposure to benzene. Since there was s u d i X
fr- acute myelogenous leukemia.
A second cohort study ot -6mdles exposed to benzene in three chemical
producuon areas ofa Michigan plant was c o n d u c t e d m t and his colleaguesat the
Chemical Company IOtt et al, 19771. All individuals who began employment at
any time b e t w x l W O and 1970 were included in the cohort The vital status of
these workers was deterrmned throug-h 1973. Three leukemia case4 were observed arppne the cohort members; all were myelocyuc and two were classiried as acute
myelocytic leukemia. Because one of these leukemia cases was coded on the death
certificatTas having- died from bronchopneumonia. leukemia cases was generated on the basis of
.th.e
expected number of trom VIe i n u b
ffational Cancer Survey rather than mortality data. Using this analysis. the three
myelocytic leukemia cases were reported to be significantly in excess of the expected number, 0.8(p less than 0.047)I. All three leukemia cases were exposed to
a t m o w beNene concentrations averacginn less than
. In addition to the
three leukemia cases. two deaths due to anemia. one aplastic and one pernicious.
were also observed among members of this cohort.*
A&w SUtC-A-t
4-
iants are more likely than other types of leukemia to occur in r e b n to benzene
exposure I w t ein. 19771. However. the benzene-exposed populations have been
'On the hasir of the\e rewlt\. the D o w Chemical Companv 119771 initiated d global p o l ~ c yof reducing benzene expowre in I I \ oper,ition\ tu il ceiling 6 ~ I u to' f IO ppm
236 WLllr, Irfurc, 8Dd wlllrcr
ofinsufficient sample size, and thereby ofinadequate sensitivity, todetect excesses
in other types of leukemia that may not demonstrate a relative risk as high as
myelomonocytic leukemias. When the expected numba of a specific%ell type of
leukemia is less than one. as it was in the Infante et al[1977b] and Ott et al [ 19771
studies, only relative nsks that are of considerable magnitude will be recognized as
significant.
Nevertheless. several studies and case reports have linked various types of
leukema to benzene exposure. Browning [ 1%51 searched the literature and found
61 reported cases of leukema among persons who had been exposed to benzene.
The classifications of these leukemia cases were as follows: 6 acute myeloid. 1
subacute myeloid. 21 chronic myeloid, 7 lymphatic, 14 aleukemic. and 12 eryth-
roleukemic. Inaddition. Vigliani and Forni I19761 stated that in Paris fro
1965.43 cases of leukemia had been identified in subjects with chronic benzene
exposure; 23 were classified as acute leukemia, 13 were classified as chronic
myeloid leukemia, and 8 were classified as chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Aksoy [ 19801recently described cases of various types of malignanciesamong
47 shoe workers chronically exposed to benzene and 16 persons employed in other
industries where benzene had been used in Turkey. Of the 42 cases of leukemia,
only 16 (38%) were acute myeloblastic leukemia. The other types of leukemia in
descending order of frequency were: acute erythroleukemia, preleukemia, acute
lymphoblastic leukemia, acute monocytic leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia,
acute myelocytic leukemia and acute undifferentiated leukemia. In addition, malig-
nancies other than leukemia were found among persons chronically exposed to
benzene, including nine cases of malignant lymphoma, three cases of multiple
myeloma and five cases of lung cancer.
Ishimaru et al [ 19711conducted a study of 303 leukemia cases and 303 matched
controls among adult survivors of the atomic bomb explosions in Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. Japan. The risk of leukemia was found to be significantly higher among
those employed in occupations where various solvents. including benzene. or
medical x-ray were used as compared to tho\e without such exposure. The relative
risk was 1.8 times higher for chronic leukemia and 2.9 urnes highefifor acute
leukemia.
-A t the OSHA benzene hearing i n 1977. some witnesses
epidemiologic e;rs exposed to
\tudies which failed benzene However.
to
in
adlel toefctthaenseexsctuedsiseivs emceatnhcoedronlosikicamd ong.
wo1r.kw-
made it apparent that they could not be relied w o n for an ev
of Dotential
a d v e t s e s from occuDationa1 exposure to benzene. Specifically, the authors
could not specify the proportions of workers in their study populations that ever had
been exposed to benzene. Further, for those who may have been exposed, there
was no knowledge of when their exposure took place. making an assessment of the
adequacy of latency period difficult. if not impossible. to determine.
In one such study, Thorpe [ 19741 analyzed deaths due to leukema among
] 38.000 employees of eight European affiliates of a major petroleum corporation. 1 Eighteen cases of leukemia between 1962 and 1971 were reported by company
physicians in response to a questionnare. The author compared the 18 reported
leukemia deaths wth a n expected number of ??.l3eukemia deaths. generated
u4ing W H O age-\pecific mortality rate4 Prewmdbly because of inadequate
I records, the author applied W H O mortality rates to the age distribution of the U K
G---
I
affiliate. Workers in the other European affiliates were assumed by the author to
have the same age distribution as those in the UK.Thorpe concluded that no excess
in leukemia mortality could be damonstrated among these employees.
However, it is unknown exactly how many of these workers had a history of
exposure to benzene. The number of persons potentially exposed to benzene was
estimated on the basis ofjob assignments, but the author acknowledged that it was
often difficult to distinguish exposed from nonexposed workers. Industrial hygiene
measurements of worker exposure were generally not available. For a large number
4-of individualsknown to have died, the cause of
Punnertnore.
for thoseindividualswhose causes ofdeath were reported, there was no verification
of cause of death. This is an important consideration because an individual with
leukemia I& die from an&ther immediate causiS&ch as -an acute infectious
disease, and the fact that the individual had leukemia may be overlooked when the
cause of death is coded.
These deficiencies preclude any judgment on the relationship of benzene
exposure and leukemia from this study of Europeanaffiliatesaa major petroleum
corporation. Nevertheless, some individuals[American Petroleum Institute, 19801
continue to cite this study as evidence of a threshold level for the induction of
leukemia among workers exposed to benzene.
Studios In Animals
At the time of the lW7 OSHA benzene rulemaking, the evidence was not
sufficient to demonstrate cancer induction in laboratory animals following expo-
sure to benzene. A study by Lignac I19321 showed that 8 out of33 mice developed
leukemia or Kundrat's lymphosarcoma 4 to 11 months after the first subcutaneous
injection of benzene. Because no control animals were included in the study, no
conclusions could be drawn from its results. Other attempts to induce cancer in
benzene-exposed animals had been unsuccessful up until 1979.
m c e the close of the record in the 1977 OSHA benzene rulemaking. two
&independent laboratories have reported henzene-induced cancers in rodents.
ioni and Scarnato [ 1979Jobserved a signiticant excess in Lymbal glahd tumors
female Sprague-Dawley rats who were administered daily doses of 2$
mg/kg body weight benzene hy stomach tube (8132 exposed vs 0130 control, p less
than 0.05).In C37BL mice exposed by inhalation to300pp
6 hours,day, 1;
days/weekfor up to 16 months. Snyder et a1I19801
increase (p less than 0.005) in hematopoietic
phomas.
Thus. a statistically significant increase in tumors has been demonstrated in
twodifferent species of laboratory animals. Sprague-Dawley rats and C57BL mice.
following exposure to benzene.
NONMALIGNANT BLOOD DISORDERS
The most commonly reported, but not necessarily the most frequently occurring, adverse health effects associated with chronic exposure to benzene is an alteration in the levels of erythrocytes. leukocytes. or thrombocytes in the circulating blood IOSH.4. 19781. Pancytopenia is a term used to refer to a decrease in all three of these hematologic components. and the term i s frequently used inter-
238 WYte, Imfmte, ud WllLcr
changeably with aplastic anemia. The relatively more frequent reporting in the
literature ofcases of aplastic anemia than ofleukemia in association with benzene expasure may be a reflection of the shorter biological lag time associated with the clinical appearance of aplastic anemia as compared to the eventual clinical manifestation of leukemia. T h e incidence of these toxic manifestations of benzene exposure presumably is further underreported in more recent times as physicians
are less likely to report blood abnormalities already known to be associated with benzene exposure.
Numerous studies were included in the 1977 OSHA benzene record which showed Mood disorders among occupationally exposed workers and laboratory animals exposed to benzene. However. several issues remained unresolved at the close of the record.
i
benzene exposure. such as pancytopenia, may be seriously underestimated be-
cause the possible importance of exposure to benzene may be overlooked [19771.
OSHA concluded that the data available did not permit an accurate quantitative
assessment of the morbidity or mortality from benzene-induced nonmalignant
blood disorders. Second, the evidence in the record demonstrated no consensus of opinion as
to whether benzene-induced nonmalignant blood disorders persist after cessation
of benzene exposure. However, it is well recognized that a large number of
patients with aplastic anemia die as a result ofthis disease. In 1977, 1,153 recog-
nized deaths due to aplastic anemia (ICD no 284, 8th revision) occurred in the
United States (US Department of Health and Human Services. unpublished).
OSHA stated that i t was not appropnate to conclude that nonmalignant blood
disorders would revert to the tndividual's normal value5 in all caw4 followng the
cessation of exposure to benzene.
b
Finally, some hearing participants argued that a no-effect level for nonmalig-
nant blood disorders could be established at an atmosphenc benzene concentration
greater than 10 ppm. hecause they believed it was unclear what health effects occur
below 20 ppm. After reviewing the evidence in the 1977 benzene record, OSHA
I 19781stated that there was n o a l i g n a n t bone marrow toxicity can
result from exposure to benzene above 25-40 ppm. Further, OSHA recognized thar
Teveral studies repbrted blood abnormalities associated with benzene exoosurg
IeTels below 75 ~ mat l,evels perhaps as low as 1OEm. Reasoning that a relatively
higher dose would result in an increased nsk. that a lower dose would result in a
reduced nsk. a
nonmalignant blood disorders.
CHROMOSOMAL ABERRATIONS
The record for the 1977 OSHA benzene rulemaking included several report\ of chromosomal damdge in henzene-expoied Norken. both with and Nithout clinical symptom\. For example. Forni et al [ 1971bl performed chromosome
~ p . t k r l ~ t o B t B w a e239
studies on 34 workers in a rotogravure plant and 34 controls matched by w e and sex. Ten of the rotogravure workers had been exposed to benzene and tduene and the remaining 24 had been exposed to toluene only. The investigators reported a statistically significant increase in both stable and unstable chromosomal aberrations in the benzene-exposed group compared with either the controls or the toluene-exposed group. In another investigation by Forni et al [ 1971aI. 25 workers who had been diagnosed 1 to 18 years earlier as having chronic benzene poisoning were studied for chromosomal aberrations. At the time ofthe chromosome study, most subjects showed practically normal blood counts. Compared with matched controls, the former benzene-hemopathy cases had a signifEantly increased frequency of unsfable and stable chromosomal aberrations. Follow-up studies rew e d ageneraldecreaseia unstable chrqmosome aberrationsand a-pusistenceor increase i n stable aberrations over time.
In addition, after theclosing of the 1977 OSHA benzene hearing record, Kiian and Daniel of the Dow Chemical Company's Bio-Medikal Research Laboratory released the results of a cytqenetic study of Dow employees exposed to benzene
damage at low levels. S i m d et al IlWplpcrfOrrned a cytogenetic
S
exposed in a Fr c
&posure&-nts
w c r w . Atmospheric
UD to 14 ppol.of
50 workers examined, 21 were considered tohave an increase in the number of
chromosome fractures and 4 were considered to have a large number of various
anomalies, although no control workers were examined. Hartwich and Schwanitz
w2]studied 9workers who were exposed to ben6ze-nSe i
stated
L
that
the
maximum
worK. p.iace
-0
n or ~3 ppm was never reached.
ev Ut me 100 cells examined per worker, tre
s no i t a ; p
ranged from 8% to 12%. and averaged
10.4%. Concurrent controls were not examned. but the authors stated that the
average aberration rate from studies by other investigators of blood donors was
5.1%
Interpreting the evidence on chromosomal damage in both human and ex-
penmental studies. QSHA stated that chromosomal damage represented an ad-
verse biological event which may pose or reflect a potential health risk and as such,
-must be considered in the larger realm of adverse health effects associated with
benzene. OSHA did not actually link chromosomal aberrations with demonstrable adverse health effects. However, a large body of scientific data suggests that an
increased rate of chromosomal aberrations is of serious concern since
chromosomal abnormalities have been associated with at least one-half of all
spontaneously aborted fetuses [Stein et al. 19751 and with several congenital syn-
dromes that also show an increased risk ofmalignancy [Mulvihill, 19751. In addi-
tion. chromosomal breakage. whether of genetic or environmental origin, has been
search Laboratory r &entable
.[Mulvihill. 19751. The
ecen
EPA t
11197913Haesal.t.h7Effects Re-
and their occurrence IS^ often associated with cancer."
HEALTH EFFECTS AT LOW-LEVEL EXPOSURE TO BENZENE
In ruling on the evidence in the 1977 OSHA record demonstrating health
effects at low-level exposure to benzene, the Supreme Court did not attempt to
substitute its scientific judgment for that of the agency's. instead, the Supreme
Court based its decision on legal issues involving the intepretation of the Occupa-
tional Safety and Health Act of 1970(29USC 651et seq).-A cia- re s
the evidg-e
1977 OSHA benzene record, as well as the .n_ewevi-
t$- close o:teffecozd, reveals that there are data which demonstrate s e y
a k e r s e h a e ects resilting from low-le-e
to b-
In the Ott et W d v FIR71, discussed in the secrion on epidemiologic
*;- evidence of carcinogenicity,all threeindividuals diagnosed ashaving leukemia and the individual with the diagnosis d aplastic anemiahad worked i n jobs where
benzene exposure was characterize
I-
increase in chromosomal aberrations among workers who had-been exposed to average benzene concentrationsof less than 10ppm[Holder, 19781. These findings
were released shortly after the 1977 OSHA benzene record was closed, and there-
fore could not be cited by OSHA in support of the recommended 1.O ppm standard. The results of this study were later published by Picciano [1979]. Data from cytogenetic studies on 52 benzene-exposed workers were compared with data from 44 pre-employment controls. The results showed that the percentage of workers who had cells with chromosome breaks was significantly greater for the benzene-
exposed group (Chi-square = 10.24, df = 1, p less than 0.005). In addition, the percentage of workers who had both chromosome breaks and marker chromo-
somes was ten-times higher among the benzene-exposed workers (Chisquare = 8.96. df = 1 , p less than 0.005).
Plcciano later presented an analysis of the cytogenetic results by level of
3
4
r nonexposed penons. 2 1 q
forpersonsexposedtolevelsup to l.Oppm.257 forpersonsexposedfrom 1.Oto2.5
ppm. and ??"rfor worker5 exposed to level\ from 3 5 ppm u p to 10 ppm
Thus. data currently available demonstrate the induction of leukemia and
C
U
F
B
t
l e conUce
W
below 10ppm.
THRESHOLDS FOR CARClNOGEMlClTY
During the 1977 OSHA benzene rulemaking, the major dispute was whether or not a threshold level existed for benzene exposure in relation to leukemia. Some participants argued that in workplaces where an excess in leukemia was demonstrated among benzene-exposed workers. the atmospheric levels of benzene were several times higher than the current TWA of 10ppm. Furthermore. it was claimed that no excess in leukemia incidence had been definitely established among worker\ exposed to levels of benzene below 10 ppm.
.-
of
a
OSHA resDondcd
suistancc has been
to thaes-eoc established
j. . t once the c a r c i .n. w
dcd by an in
The epidemiologicstudies
y c n e w =re! ucited in s
stated, were charac-
tenred by a number ef flaws in both design and methodology. OSHA concluded
that it was not possible to demonstrate a threshdd or to establish a safe level for
exposure to benzene. As a result, OSHA stated that it was its belief that occupa-
tional exposure to benzene at low levels poses a carcinogemc risk to workers.
Whether or not safe or no-effect levels can be set for exposure to carcinogens
was one of many important issuesdiscussed during OSHA's recent rulemaking on
the identification, classification, and regulation of potential occupational carcine
gens, referred to as the OSH-ACancer Policy L19801. During the lengthy rulemaking
proceedings, a numbeF d witnesses expressed strong support for OSHA's pro-
posed position that threshold, safe, OF neeffect levels cannot be established for
carcinogens. The followingcomments summarize the opinions expressed by most
of the witnesses who participated in the proceedings.
Dr.Marvin Schneiderman of the National Cancer lnstitute stated, 'There is
as yet no evide-ver
that thresholds exist for the irreversible process of
carcinogenesis. . . . Unless some new, compelling information appears, the con:
cept of threshold serves no useful purpose in regulatory decisions.'= Matthew
After reviewing all bf the evidence in the record for the Cancer Policy, OSHA
concluded that no threshold levels could be established for carcinogeps. Specifi-
cally. OSHA concluded that there was substantial evidence in the record which
demonstrated that. 1) carcinogenic procesces differ from other typec of toxic effect\
in being irrever3ihle and onginatinp from minute foci or even from single cells. so
that there is no theoretical reason to expect a threshold even for an ~ndividual2. ) the
vanous defense mechanisms advanced as theoretical bases for thresholds, such as
DNA repair, detoxification. and immunosuppression. are unlikely to be efficient
enough to ensure a threshold: 3) even if thresholds do exist for individual humans, it
would not be expected that such thresholds exist for populabons of exposed
persons due to individual human variatlons in susceptibility, and the potential
additive and synergistlc effects wth other carcinogens. intrinsic. and extrinsic
factors: 4) the evidence presented for the existence of thresholds for specific
carcinogens was inconclusive or erroneous: and finally. 5 ) no reliable method is
known today for establishing a threshold that could apply to an exposed group of
workers.
Thus. OSHA's earlier conclucion
could be established fpr
&ne exposure i s wpported by the consensus of the scientific community. ar
d-
by rne-vp
-ve
OSH A record for the
242 WUte, I m f ~ t eu, d W a n
CancerPolicy. Furthermore,the earlierpositionOSHA took concerning benzene is
consistent with the conclusions drawn by the Agency after consideration of all
4
evidence in the record for the Cancer Policy.
-
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recent observations in Turkey Env Res 23 181-190
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-4:
Publishing Co p 3-6.5 Bwbank. F (19771) N a n Cancer lnst Mogogr (no 33) Washington DC. US Department of Health,
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J3ucatmn and Welfare p 523
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US Government Printing OPTice. p 157
Dorungcr. D ( 1%0) Defeat in benzene exposure case Nodeath knell to OSHA standard. National Law
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Dow Chemcal Company ( 19771. Benzene ceiling level lowered to ten ppm. Midland, Michigan: D o w
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Fishban. G (1980 The Supreme Court's benzene decision strikes at basic public health prinicples.
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in subpcts wth past exposure to benzene. Arch Environ Health 23:38S391.
Forni,AM. Pacifico. E and Limonca. A (1971b). Chromosome studres in workers exposed tobenzene or
toluene or both. Arch Environ Health 22:373-378
Girard. R: Mallein, ML. Be~tholonJ.: Coeur, Pand Evreux. J-CI(1970).Study ofleukocytlc alkaline
phosphatase and of the karyotype in workers exposed to benzene. (French) Arch Maladies
Rofess 3I 31-38
Goldstein. BO(19771 Hematoxicity in man In Laskin Sand Goldstein BDfeds) A critical evaluatlon of
benzene toxicity Subnutted on behalf of the Amencan Petroleurn Institute Docket no H-059.
Exhibit no 4 3 B CIS Depi of I-dhor Occupationdl Safety d n d Health 4dministration
Wdshingron DC pp 1 1 2 - 3 4
Hartwick. G dnd Schwaniu. CJ ( 1972) Chromosome studies after chronic exposure to bewol (German)
Dtsch Med Wochcnschr 97 45149
Holder BB ( 1978) Cyrogenetic \ t u & of workers expmed to benzene in the Texa< division of Dow
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Infante PF R i n k \ \ R 4 U'igonrr J K m d Young RJ f IQTa) Leukderniciin hen7ene worken I-dncet
I9 J u l y ) pp 76-7X
Infanre.Pf-. Rinsky.KA. Wdponer.JKand Young. RJ(I977b) Letrertotheeditor Lancet(22Octoberi
pp 868-869
International Agency for Re\earch on Cancer 19741 Monographs on the evaluation ofthe carcinogenic
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