Carcinogenic effects of benzene: Cesare Maltoni's contributions

Cesare Maltoni's contributions to understanding, identifying, and characterizing widely used commercial chemicals in experimental animals are among the most important methods developed in the history of toxicology and serve to protect working men and women, the general population, and our environment from hazardous substances. Maltoni developed experimental methods that have reached the "platinum standard" for protection of public health. Benzene was among the 400 or more chemicals that Maltoni and his associates tested for carcinogenicity. In 1976, Maltoni reported that benzene is a potent experimental carcinogen. Maltoni's experiments clearly demonstrated that benzene is carcinogenic in Sprague-Dawley rats, Wistar rats, Swiss mice, and RF/J mice when administered by inhalation or ingestion. Benzene caused carcinomas of the Zymbal gland, oral cavity, nasal cavities; cancers of the skin, forestomach, mammary glands, and lungs; angiosarcomas and hepatomas of the liver; and hemolymphoreticular cancers. Thus, benzene was shown to be a multipotential carcinogen that produced cancers in several species of animals by various routes of administration. On November 2, 1977, Chemical Week reported that Maltoni provided a "bombshell" when he demonstrated the "first direct link" between benzene and cancer. In this paper, I shall summarize early experiments and human studies and reports; Maltoni's experimental contribution to understanding the carcinogenicity of benzene in humans and animals; earlier knowledge concerning benzene toxicity; and benzene standards and permissible exposure levels.