Associations between Blood BTEXS Concentrations and Hematologic Parameters among Adult Residents of the U.S. Gulf States

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Environ Res
• Personal Author:
  Doherty, Brett T. ; Kwok, Richard K. ; Curry, Matthew D. ; Ekenga, Christine ; Chambers, David ; Sandler, Dale P. ; Engel, Lawrence S.
• Description:
  Background
  
  Studies of workers exposed to benzene at average air concentrations below one part per million suggest that benzene, a known hematotoxin, causes hematopoietic damage even at low exposure levels. However, evidence of such effects outside of occupational settings and for other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is limited.
  
  Objective
  
  To investigate associations between ambient exposures to five VOCs, including benzene, and hematologic parameters among adult residents of the U. S. Gulf Coast.
  
  Materials and Methods
  
  Blood concentrations of selected VOCs were measured in a sample of adult participants in the Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study (GuLF STUDY) during 2012 and 2013. Complete blood counts with differentials were also performed on a subset of participants (n=406). We used these data together with detailed questionnaire data to estimate adjusted associations between blood BTEXS (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, m/p-xylene, and styrene) concentrations and hematologic parameters using generalized linear models.
  
  Results
  
  We observed inverse associations between blood benzene concentrations and hemoglobin concentration and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and a positive association with red cell distribution width among tobacco smoke-unexposed participants (n=146). Among tobacco smoke-exposed participants (n=247), we observed positive associations between blood VOC concentrations and several hematologic parameters, including increased white blood cell and platelet counts, suggestive of hematopoietic stimulation typically associated with tobacco smoke exposure. Most associations were stronger for benzene than for the other VOCs.
  
  Conclusions
  
  Our results suggest that ambient exposure to BTEXS, particularly benzene, may be associated with hematologic effects, including decreased hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and increased red cell distribution width.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Air Pollutants Benzene Derivatives Environmental Monitoring Female Hematologic Tests Humans Male Middle Aged Smoking United States Volatile Organic Compounds

  More +
• Source:
  Environ Res. 156:579-587
• Pubmed ID:
  28448810
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5687063
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/ ; P30 ES010126/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; T32 ES007018/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; Z01 ES102945/HI/NHLBI NIH HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  156
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:d4d51a832d5a32c0ccd73ceef528c3b7a2824a5987c3363002fcca7178de9256
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/49845/cdc_49845_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 378.25 KB ]