Benzene and blood: One hundred years of evidence

✍ Scribed by Philip J. Landrigan

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 130 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0271-3586
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0274(199603)29:3<225::aid-ajim1>3.0.co;2-p

✦ Synopsis

I n I977 we shall mark the one-hundredth anniversary of the publication of the first case report describing hematologic toxicity in a worker exposed to benzene (LeNoir and Claude. 1897). In 1998. we shall observe the seventieth anniversary of the first report clearly associating benzene with leukemia (Delore and Borgoinano, 1928).

I n the century that has passed since the seminal observation that benzene is toxic to blood. a steadily accumulating body of data has shown to an ever-higher degree of certainty that benzene can cause a broad range of hematologic dysfunction, including all types of leukemia. lymphomas. rnyeloid metaplasia. and aplastic anemia (Young, 1989). These etiologic associations are substantiated by case reports. epidemiologic investigations. and laboratory studies. Benzene has been declared a proven human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Adniinistration. by the Nalional Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and by occupational health and safety agencies around the world.

The three papers in this issue of the Journal reconfirm benzene's ability to cause a wide range of hematologic toxicity. including malignancy. They clearly show that benzene can cause dysfunction of synthesis in all blood-forming elements. The effect can occur quite early in cell development. in some instances at the stem cell level. and is seen