United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Off ice of
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
Publication 9230.0-05FSd
September 1992
Superfund Fact Sheet:
Benzene
Office of Emergency and Remedial Response
Hazardous Site Control Division (5203G)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
What Is benzene?
Many chemicals are found at Superfund hazardous waste sites. The Superfund
Program's mission includes identifying the chemicals, evaluating their potential
health effects on the people who live, work, or play nearby, keeping the public
informed, and supervising the cleanup of the site.
This fact sheet is one in a series produced by the Superfund Program. It is
intended for readers with no formal scientific training. It is based on an EPA
Drinking Water Health Advisory and a Toxicological Profile prepared in 1989 by
the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (U.S. Public Health Service).
Benzene is a major industrial chemical made from coal and oil. As a pure
chemical, benzene is a clear liquid. In industry, benzene is used to make other
chemicals, as well as some types of plastics, detergents, and pesticides and is a
component of gasoline. Benzene is also a naturally-occurring substance pro-
duced by volcanoes, forest fires, and animals.
How are people
exposed to benzene?
Most high-level exposures occur in the workplace, although almost everyone is
exposed to measurable background levels of benzene in gasoline vapors and
automobile exhausts. A typical concentration in urban air is estimated to be
about 1 to 4 parts per billion (ppb). Higher levels are expected to occur near gas
stations. During the fall and winter, the average daily exposure to benzene is
higher from indoor air than outdoor air. When houses are closed tightly and
small emissions of benzene from various consumer products are contained, ben-
zene concentrations can increase, especially in a smoker's household.
Higher levels of exposure are generally associated with the following circumstances:
• Occupational settings, such as rubber or chemical manufacturing, oil refin-
ing, or gasoline storage, shipment, and sales, and industrial areas where
benzene may be released into the surrounding air.
• Use of consumer products containing benzene: glues, adhesives, particle
board, household cleaning products, paint strippers, and some art supplies.
• Use of ground water contaminated with benzene from leaking underground
storage tanks, by wastewater from industries that use benzene, or by leach-
ing from landfills containing benzene.
Benzene has been found in at least 29 percent of the hazardous waste sites on
Superfund's National Priorities List.
Benzene evaporates very quickly, so most benzene intake comes from breathing
air containing it. Benzene can make its way into groundwater (and potentially
into drinking water) from leaks in underground storage tanks or from landfills
containing buried benzene.
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Benzene can enter the body through the skin, but direct contact with liquid
benzene is rare, except for benzene-containing products such as gasoline.
In conducting site investigations, EPA may determine that although benzene is
found at a site, there is little chance that people will come into contact with it. If
there is no probability of exposure to the benzene, and there is no reason to
believe that there will be in the future, then the benzene at the site poses no risk.
The type of health problems an individual might experience depends on the
chemical, how much of the chemical a person is exposed to and how long the
exposure lasts. Some chemicals are harmful in small amounts and other chemi-
cals are not harmful even in very large amounts.
IS there a medical test If you have any reason to believe you have been exposed to harmful levels of
to determine exposure benzene, you should contact your physician. He or she can best determine what
to benzene? type Of examination is appropriate. You and your physician may want to obtain
a copy of the lexicological Profile on benzene described at the end of this document.
Although EPA does not generally conduct tests, benzene can be measured in the
blood and the breath. The body converts benzene to phenol, which can be
measured in the urine. Levels of benzene (in blood) and phenol (in urine) cannot
be used as yet to predict what harmful health effects may occur.
Benzene and phenol measurements in blood and urine should be evaluated with
care for several reasons: 1) phenol may occur in urine from the metabolism of
other chemicals (some chemicals in mouth wash, for example); 2) average levels
of benzene found in the body have not been determined for the general population;
3) smoking raises the background level of benzene in the blood, so smoking
habits must be considered to evaluate benzene intake; 4) benzene disappears
rapidly from the blood and measurements may be accurate only for recent exposures.
How can benzene
affect people's health?
Medical experience and animal studies indicate that benzene is harmful to the
immune system and the tissues that form blood cells, increasing the chance for
infections and perhaps lowering the body's defense against tumors.
Studies indicate that human exposure to extremely high concentrations of ben-
zene for short periods of time can be fatal. Exposures to much lower benzene
concentrations for about five hours can cause temporary drowsiness, dizziness,
and headaches. Long term exposures to benzene may reduce the normal produc-
tion of blood cells, which takes place in bone marrow, and can lead to severe
anemia and cancer. Information regarding the adverse health effects of ingest-
ing benzene comes mainly from animal studies, where long-term effects include
blood abnormalities and cancer. Not enough information is available to estimate
health effects from absorbing benzene through the skin.
Exposure to benzene has been linked with genetic changes in people and ani-
mals. Animal studies also indicate that benzene has harmful pre-natal effects at
relatively low intakes: low birth weight, delayed bone formation, and bone mar-
row damage. Evidence for human reproductive effects, such as spontaneous
abortion or miscarriage, is too limited to prove a clear connection.
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What recommendation* From overwhelming human evidence and supporting animal studies, benzene is
has the federal known to be a carcinogen. Leukemia (cancer of the tissues that form the white
government made to blood cells) and subsequent death from cancer have occurred in some workers
protect human health? exposed to benzene for periods of less than 5 years as well as for longer periods.
EPA has set a maximum permissible level for benzene in drinking water. If
benzene has made its way into drinking water and exceeds allowable levels,
temporary safety measures may have to be offered. Because benzene can cause
leukemia, EPA has an ultimate goal of eliminating benzene in drinking water
and in ambient water such as rivers and lakes.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) legally enforce-
able limit for benzene in air (an average of 1000 parts per billion) is equivalent
to an exposure of 32 milligrams in a workday shift. The National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has recommended further reducing
the occupational exposure limit in air.
At specific Superfund sites, EPA makes every effort to monitor benzene levels
and safeguard public health. EPA investigators determine if there are excessive
levels of benzene, what risks it poses, and how the cleanup can bring benzene
levels to approved limits. During the cleanup, temporary safety measures may
need to be offered. For example, if benzene has made its way into drinking
water, an alternate source may have to be supplied, or if benzene has entered the
food chain, the consumption of affected fish, animals, or milk may have to be banned
Where can I get more This fact sheet has been designed to provide general information on benzene.
Information on this More information about benzene at a specific site is available from the Commu-
Chemlcal? nity Relations Coordinator (CRC) for each EPA Region. Community Relations
Offices are listed on the back of this fact sheet.
For additional technical details, contact EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at
1-800-426-4791, or see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's
Toricologicfll Profile for Benzene. Information on obtaining this profile is available
by calling the Agency's Toxicology Information Service, at (404) 639-6000. The
information service is accessible 24 hours per day by touchtone phone.
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Regional Superfund Community Relations Offices
Region 1
Superfund Community Relations
Office of Public Affairs
EPA Region 1 (RPA-74)
#1 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02203
(617) 565-3425
Region 2
Community Relations Branch
External Programs Division
EPA Region 2 (2-EPD)
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278
(212) 264-7054
Region 3
Superfund Community Relations
Office of External Affairs
EPA Region 3 (3EA21)
841 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 597-9905
Region 4
Superfund Community Relations
Waste Management Division
EPA Region 4
345 Courtland Street, N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30365
(404) 347-2643
Region 5
Superfund Community Relations
Office of Public Affairs
EPA Region 5
Metcalfe Federal Bldg.
77 West Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 353-2073
Region 6
Superfund Community Relations
Hazardous Waste Mgmt. Division
EPA Region 6 (6H-SS)
1445 Ross Avenue
12th Floor, Suite 1200
Dallas, TX 75270
(214) 655-2240
Region 7
Community Relations
Office of Public Affairs
EPA Region 7
726 Minnesota Avenue
Kansas City , KS 66101
(913) 551-7003
Region 8
Community Relations Branch
Office of External Affairs
EPA Region 8 (80EA)
1 Denver Place
999 18th Street, Suite 1300
Denver, CO 80202
(303)294-1144
Region 9
Superfund Community Relations
Hazardous Waste Mgmt. Division
EPA Region 9 (T-l-3)
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 744-2178
Region 10
Community Relations Section
Hazardous Waste Division
EPA Region 10 (HW117)
1200 6th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 553-6901
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Environmental Protection
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