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Appendix D - Dossier (PDF) - Tera

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date: 20–JUL–2005<br />

5. Toxicity Substance ID: 71–43–2<br />

______________________________________________________________________________<br />

Flag: Risk Assessment<br />

07–JUL–2005 (180) (221) (264) (558) (873) (938) (939) (1251)<br />

Remark: PETROLEUM INDUSTRY WORKERS<br />

<strong>Appendix</strong> D: Benzene SIDS <strong>Dossier</strong><br />

A number of cohort studies have investigated oil refining<br />

and petroleum distribution workers but few have focussed<br />

specifically on benzene exposure.<br />

A large cohort study of British refinery workers (34,781<br />

workers employed for at least a year between 1950–1975)<br />

showed no excess mortality from leukaemia (Rushton &<br />

Alderson, 1981a). No benzene exposure measurements were<br />

made but when leukaemia cases and controls were<br />

qualitatively assigned to low, medium or high benzene<br />

exposure groups on the basis of job category in a nested<br />

case–control study, a significant association (p=0.05) was<br />

reported between leukaemia and combined high or medium<br />

exposure compared to the low exposure group (RR=3.0, 95%<br />

CI=1.2–7.2) (Rushton & Alderson, 1981b).<br />

The 39 year follow up of this study has shown that in<br />

34,569<br />

refinery workers there was still no leukaemia excess (68<br />

observed compared to 70 expected). In the follow up of the<br />

23,306 distribution workers there were 61 leukaemias<br />

observed compared to 57 expected (SMR=108, 95% CI=83–140)<br />

(Rushton, 1993).<br />

The effects of occupational exposure to lower<br />

concentrations<br />

of benzene has been the subject of much study. The<br />

availability of data from further large cohorts<br />

occupationally exposed to benzene is relevant to defining<br />

the dose effect relationship at well characterized low<br />

exposures. Such data is likely to be forthcoming from the<br />

UK oil distribution cohort. This is currently the subject<br />

of a nested cohort study, due to report early in 1995.<br />

Tsai et al. (1983) reported on 454 US refinery workers<br />

employed from 1952 until 1978 and found no deaths from<br />

leukaemia (0.4 expected). Personal samples indicated<br />

however that during the period 1973–1982 only 16% of 1394<br />

samples indicated exposure to air concentrations (TWA) of<br />

>1<br />

ppm.<br />

Another US refinery study (retrospective follow–up study,<br />

3976 white men) was apparently set up because of a<br />

suspected excess of leukaemia in the work force (McCraw et<br />

al. 1985). Fourteen leukaemia deaths were observed (6.6<br />

expected) of which 8 were acute myeloid leukaemia (2.0<br />

expected, significant increase).<br />

14 cases of leukemia (8 acute myelogenous leukemia)<br />

occurred<br />

– 641/957 –

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