[Biological effect of exposure to butadiene]

People can be exposed to 1,3-butadiene in work place (rubber industry) as well as in natural environment (car exhausts fumes, cigarette smoke). Butadien on its own is not genotoxic, but is metabolized to mutagenic and carcinogenic epoxydes, 1,2,3,4-diepoxybutane and 3,4-epoxybutene in the organism of mammals and human. 1,3-butadiene has been shown to be a potent carcinogen in animals and human. Laboratory investigations showed also toxic and mutagenic abilities of butadiene and its metabolities. Interspecies differences in sensitivity to butadiene are caused by differences in metabolic transformations of butadiene in different species.