PROBLEM OF BENZENE IN OUR ENVIRONMENT - CLINICAL AND MOLECULAR CONSIDERATIONS

Benzene has found extensive commercial use in many industries including the leather industry, both artificial and natural; the manufacture of artificial rubber; in gilding, bronzing and silvering, varnish, shellac, and paint removing; in the printing industry including rotogravure, lithography, and photography; and in dry cleaning. Benzene is a constituent of high octane gasoline used in airplane and automobile engines. In addition, benzene has been used in the manufacture of explosives, pesticides, plastics, synthetic detergents, conditioners, antioxidants, and medicinals. Benzene is also used as a solvent for rubber gums, resins, celluloid, fats, and alkaloids. Although the toxicity of benzene was noted as early as 1897 by Santesson and much work was performed by Selling in 1910-1916, only recently have the toxic effects of benzene gained national attention. This was due to an emergency governmental order reducing the permissible levels of benzene exposure to one part per million in the working atmosphere per eight-hour day from the previous levels of ten parts per million. For most of this century, however, the acceptable levels have been considerably higher.