Temporal Variation in the Association Between Benzene and Leukemia Mortality

Details

• Journal Article:
  Environmental Health Perspectives
• Personal Author:
  Richardson, David B.
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Benzene is a human carcinogen. Exposure to benzene occurs in occupational and environmental settings. OBJECTIVE: I evaluated variation in benzene-related leukemia with age at exposure and time since exposure. METHODS: I evaluated data from a cohort of 1,845 rubber hydrochloride workers. Benzene exposure-leukemia mortality trends were estimated by applying proportional hazards regression methods. Temporal variation in the impact of benzene on leukemia rates was assessed via exposure time windows and fitting of a multistage cancer model. RESULTS: The association between leukemia mortality and benzene exposures was of greatest magnitude in the 10 years immediately after exposure [relative rate (RR) at 10 ppm-years = 1.19; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.10-1.29]; the association was of smaller magnitude in the period 10 to < 20 years after exposure (RR at 10 ppm-years = 1.05; 95% CI, 0.97-1.13); and there was no evidence of association > or = 20 years after exposure. Leukemia was more strongly associated with benzene exposures accrued at > or = 45 years of age (RR at 10 ppm-years = 1.11; 95% CI, 1.04-1.17) than with exposures accrued at younger ages (RR at 10 ppm-years = 1.01; 95% CI, 0.92-1.09). Jointly, these temporal effects can be efficiently modeled as a multistage process in which benzene exposure affects the penultimate stage in disease induction. CONCLUSIONS: Further attention should be given to evaluating the susceptibility of older workers to benzene-induced leukemia. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Benzene Carcinogens Chemical Industry Cohort Studies Hematologic Diseases Hypersensitivity Leukemia Mortality Neoplasms Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Solvents Time Factors

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• Keywords:
  Risk-factors; Risk-analysis; Mortality-data; Occupational-diseases; Diseases; Occupational-exposure; Chemical-hypersensitivity; Cancer-rates; Age-factors; Solvent-vapors; Solvents; Carcinogens; Benzenes; Blood-disorders
• Source:
  Environ Health Perspect 2008 Mar; 116(3):370-374
• ISSN:
  0091-6765
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  K01 OH008635/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• Volume:
  116
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20033895
• Contact Point Address:
  David B. Richardson, Richardson, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
• Email:
  david.richardson@unc.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Benzene (CAS RN 71-43-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:96b6d0d41d817306480ca91f9bb3c7b08b8f2fd119edf0fe477e0222ff2397554957bb1c3763f8d3db98a898a1228e848b0989f1f390041e99949b5f5d645f18
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/31494/cdc_31494_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 142.36 KB ]