United States
                    Environmental Protection
                    Agency
                   Office of Pesticides and
                   Toxic Substances TS-793
                   Washington D C 20460
v>EPA
      Benzene—
      what is  it?
      Why is
      benzene  a
      problem?
Toxics Information
Series
                   Benzene
First  discovered  in   1825,   benzene   has  been
commercially  produced and used since the  I860's.  It has
been produced in large  quantities  in the U.S. since the
1940's and is used as the basis for many  other important
chemical  compounds.   The  toxicity of  benzene is well-
documented.   As  early as the 1920's, benzene was  thought
to be associated  with leukemia.  More recent information
has provided  stronger evidence of benzene's  relationship
to human cancer and serious questions  are being raised
about  its  potential  for  producing genetic  mutations.
These concerns,  together  with  other suspected   adverse
health effects,  have prompted government  action to limit
public  exposure  to  the  chemical.    This  Information
Bulletin addresses  the  hazards  of  benzene and describes
the efforts of the  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and  others to  safeguard  public health from the
hazards of benzene.

Benzene is a  unique organic ring formation made up
of hydrogen and carbon molecules.   The benzene  ring is
retained throughout many chemical reactions, rather than
being rearranged, as  are most  compounds.  The stability
of benzene makes it  an important basic ingredient for
other chemical  compounds.
     Benzene  is  used as a constituent  in gasoline, in
the manufacture of  dyes, artificial  leathers, linoleum,
varnishes, lacquers and medicinal  chemicals, and  as  a
solvent in waxes, resins and oils.  Some 12.72  billion
pounds of  benzene  were produced  in the  U.S. in 1979.
More  than  half  was   used   in   gasoline  production.
Although benzene is used throughout the  country, it is
produced  in   large   volumes   in  only  a   few   States.
Production in Texas alone  is more  than 50% of the total
volume,   followed by  New  York and  New  Jersey  with  a
combined total  of 20%.   Other, major producing  facilities
are located in  the north central and midwestern States.

Human exposure to benzene  is widespread due to the
prevalent uses  of the chemical.  Very easily evaporated,
benzene  is an  air  contaminant emitted through  factory
vents and stacks  during  handling and storage,  as  well as
from  gasoline  vapors  and  auto  emissions.    It  can be
absorbed  through the  skin or inhaled    The public can
also  be  exposed  to  small concentrations of  benzene in

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What
is the
government
doing about
this  hazard?
drinking  water since  benzene  can  enter  water  systems
through run-off from gas and oil, industrial spills and
dump  sites.   The  presence of  benzene in foods—ranging
from  fruits and vegetables to dairy products, meat, fish
and poultry—is well documented.
     Benzene is suspected of causing nerve damage, blood
disorders  and  cancer  in humans,  and genetic  damage  in
laboratory  animals.    When  benzene  is  absorbed  by  the
body, approximately  50%  is retained and either stored in
fatty  tissue  or bone marrow or metabolized  by the body
into  a number  of different  compounds.    Toxic  effects
associated  with  benzene  exposure  are   thought  to  be
caused by one or more of these metabolic products.
     Nerve and blood disorders;  Acute (exposure to high
concentrationsovershorttime intervals)  and  chronic
(exposure  to low  concentrations  over a  prolonged  time
period) benzene poisoning are  shown through  nerve  and
blood  disorders.   The primary  acute  effects of benzene
are on the central nervous system, which can include the
following symptoms:  confusion, dizziness, tightening of
leg "muscles, pressure  over  the forehead, excitation and
finally coma.   Chronic  exposure  to  benzene may induce
fatigue, dizziness,  nausea  and loss of appetite, weight
loss  and  weakness  in  the  early  stages,  as well  as
chances  in  the  hematopoietic (blood-forming)  system.
Symptoms  of chronic exposure  include:    pallor,  nose-
bleeds, .bleeding  gums,   excessive  menstrual  bleeding,
small   hemorrhages  in  the   skin,   headache,  ,nausea,
internal bleeding, and unconsciousness.
      Damage   resulting   from   benzene   exposure   is
cumulative  and  permanent.    In  addition,  people exposed
to  benzene are at a  greater  risk if they  also suffer
from   anemia,   respiratory   disease,  alcholism,  heart
disease, kidney disease, or obesity.
      Cancer:   The World Health Organization's Interna-
tional  Agency  for  Research  on  Cancer  has  identified
benzene^ as  a  human carcinogen.  Epidemiological studies
have ""shown a  relationship,  well accepted by the medical
community,   between   benzene   exposure   and  leukemia.
Cancer  was  first, associated with benzene in the 1920's,
but  a direct relationship was  not made  until the late
1970's.
      Genetic  damage;  Benzene also produces chromosomal
changes    or   mutations   in   experimental    animals.
Occupational  studies indicate  that  benzene exposure also
causes  damage  to  chromosomes  in exposed workers.

Several Federal agencies, such  as  EPA, the
Occupational  Safety  and  Health  Administration  (OSHA),
and  the Consumer  Product Safety Commission this  (CPSC),
are working  to  control public  exposure to  benzene.  OSHA
set  a  workplace  standard of  ten parts  benzene to one
million parts  air (10 ppm)  several years ago.   Although
a  recent  OSHA  regulation designed  to  reduce levels of
benzene  in the workplace was  overturned by the  Supreme
Courts,   OSHA  continues   to   investigate  methods  of
reducing  benzene  exposure.

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     CPSC presently requires warning  labels  on consumer
products  containing  more  than  five  percent  benzene.
CPSC  has determined  that benzene  is  no longer  being
intentionally added to consumer products and  that of the
10%  of  those  products  which  contain more   than  0.1%
benzene  (as  a  contaminant),  none  contain  more  than
0.25%.
     EPA listed  benzene  as a  hazardous  air  contaminant
in 1977, and has begun controlling benzene air emissions
from major industries and other stationary sources.  The
agency  has  proposed a limit  on benzene  emissions from
maleic  anhydride  plants,  the  largest  stationary source
of benzene  air contamination,  which  should  reduce such
emissions by 97%.  EPA has also proposed emission limits
for  ethylbenzene/styrene  plants,  benzene  storage  and
handling, and  chemical plant  fugitive emissions.  Plans
are  also underway  to control  coke   by-product  plants.
Benzene  is  also identified as  one  of the chemicals on
EPA's  list  of priority  water  pollutants.   Final  water
quality  criteria  for benzene  were  published  by  EPA in
November  1980.    These   criteria  include  the  latest
scientific information on  health  effects  and sources of
benzene  pollution,  and  can  be  used   as  the  basis  f c r
regulation of  water  pollution sources by  EPA  and  the
individual states.  EPA  has  also  proposed regulation of
several  benzene  compounds under  the  authority of  the
Clean  Water  Act  in order  to  reduce  the discharge of
benzene  into  the  nation's  waterways.   EPA has obtained
voluntary cancellations  under  FIFRA  for all  pesticide
products  containing benzene  as  an  active  ingredient.
However,  benzene  could  still  be  contained   in  certain
pesticide  products   as   a  contaminant  of   petroleum
distillates or as  an  inert ingredient.   Waste products
from  benzene   production  are  cited   as  hazardous,  and
therefore are  subject to  regulation  by  EPA  under  the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
     EPA and  the  Department  of Transportation have each
issued   regulations   governing the   transportation  of
benzene  and  benzene  wastes,  including  labeling  and
container  requirements   and   a  manifest   system  for
tracking  hazardous  wastes from point of generation to
final disposal.
     In  Summary:    Benzene  remains  a  major  cause  for
concern  because  of   its  wide   usage  and   its  known
carcinogenic  and  possible  mutagenic  effects  in humans.
Federal  agencies  are  continuing to research  the health
effects  of  benzene and  to formulate  regulations  which
will reduce the public's  exposure  to the substance.

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