Cytogenetic effects of benzene: dosimetric studies on rats exposed to benzene vapour

Rats were exposed to benzene vapour at nominal concentrations in air of 1, 10, 100 and 1000 ppm acutely for 6 h. Bone marrow cells from each animal were examined for chromosomal abnormalities 24 h after the end of the exposure period. This analysis was carried out on 250 metaphases per animal where possible and showed a significant increase in the percentage of cells with chromosomal abnormalities, excluding gaps, in the groups of animals exposed to 100 and 1000 ppm benzene. In the 10-ppm and 1-ppm exposure groups there were elevated levels of cells with abnormalities which showed evidence of being dose-related, although they were not statistically significant.