Is benzene harmful to human body?

Benzene is an organic solvent with slight fragrance, which is used in many industries, such as decorative coatings for making glue, paint and shoes. In addition, gasoline, automobile exhaust and household gas also contain benzene. It can be said that benzene is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant in industrial cities.

About 500,000 people in China are exposed to benzene, and benzene poisoning accounts for 0.5%. Among them, there are not a few people who eventually develop leukemia, aplastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, and more people have leukopenia. According to statistics, the incidence of leukemia in workers exposed to benzene is five times higher than that in the control group. These leukemia patients were diagnosed with leukemia from exposure to benzene, ranging from 6 months to 10 years. At present, the Ministry of Health has designated leukemia among workers exposed to benzene as one of the occupational cancers.

Blood diseases caused by benzene are related to the following factors.

(1) First, the operator may inhale high-concentration benzene in a short time, causing acute poisoning, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and unstable walking in the unventilated workshop, and even coma if not rescued in time.

(2) Second, the study on the exposure time of benzene proves that chronic poisoning can occur after long-term exposure to low-concentration benzene, showing weakness, hemocytopenia and decreased resistance, and some will develop into aplastic anemia, while others will develop into leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome.

(3) Third, not all workers engaged in production activities in the same occupational environment with genetic factors will develop poisoning or leukemia. This is because some people have gene deletion, which weakens the detoxification function of benzene metabolites and is easy to be poisoned. In addition, different genders and ages have different sensitivities to benzene. Women are more sensitive than men, and children are more sensitive than adults.