A cytogenetic study on workers exposed to low concentrations of benzene

A cytogenetic study was performed on 22 healthy workers engaged in benzene production and exposed to low concentrations of benzene, ranging from 0.2 to 12.4 p.p.m. (threshold limit value 10 p.p.m.). Workers were divided into two groups according to the different levels of exposure, inferrable also from the concentration of benzene in the alveolar air and the levels of urinary phenols. Each exposed subject was paired with a suitable control, living in the same area and of similar smoking habits and age. No statistically significant increase of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) frequency was observed in the exposed groups. In controls, SCE frequency was positively correlated with age and smoking habits. Among structural chromosomal aberrations, only the chromosome-type ones were significantly higher in exposed than in control subjects, and their increase was still significant when gaps were discarded.