Urinary benzene (UB) was investigated as a biomarker of exposure among benzene-exposed workers and unexposed subjects in Shanghai, China. Measurements were performed via headspace solid phase microextraction of 0.5 ml of urine specimens followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This assay is simple and more sensitive than other methods (detection limit 0.016 microg benzene/l urine). The median daily benzene exposure was 31 p.p.m. (range 1.65-329 p.p.m.). When subjects were divided into controls (n = 41), those exposed to < or =31 p.p.m. benzene (n = 22) and >31 p.p.m. benzene (n = 20), the median UB levels were 0.069, 4.95 and 46.1 microg/l, respectively (Spearman r = 0.879, P < 0.0001). A linear relationship was observed between the logarithm of UB and the logarithm of benzene exposure in exposed subjects according to the following equation: ln(UB, microg/l) = 0.196 + 0.709 ln (exposure, p.p.m.) (r = 0.717, P < 0.0001). Considering all subjects, linear relationships were also observed between the logarithm of UB and the corresponding logarithms of four urinary metabolites of benzene, namely t,t-muconic acid (r = 0.938, P < 0.0001), phenol (r = 0.826, P < 0.0001), catechol (r = 0.812, P < 0.0001) and hydroquinone (r = 0.898, P: < 0.0001). Ratios of individual metabolite levels to total metabolites versus UB provide evidence of competitive inhibition of CYP450 enzymes leading to increased production of phenol and catechol at the expense of hydroquinone and muconic acid. Among control subjects UB was readily detected with a mean level of 0.145 microg/l (range 0.027-2.06 microg/l), compared with 5.63 microg/l (range 0.837-26.38 microg/l) in workers exposed to benzene below 10 p.p.m. (P < 0.0001). This suggests that UB is a good biomarker for exposure to low levels of benzene.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a powerful new technique that allows numerical chromosome aberrations (aneuploidy) to be detected in interphase cells. In previous studies, FISH has been used to demonstrate that the benzene metabolites hydroquinone and 1,2,4-benzenetriol induce aneuploidy of chromosomes 7 and 9 in cultures of human cells. In the present study, we used an interphase FISH procedure to perform cytogenetic analyses on the blood cells of 43 workers exposed to benzene (median = 31 ppm, 8-hr time-weighted average) and 44 matched controls from Shanghai, China. High benzene exposure (> 31 ppm, n = 22) increased the hyperdiploid frequency of chromosome 9 (p < 0.01), but lower exposure (< or = 31 ppm, n = 21) did not. Trisomy 9 was the major form of benzene-induced hyperdiploidy. The level of hyperploidy in exposed workers correlated with their urinary phenol level (r = 0.58, p < 0.0001), a measure of internal benzene dose. A significant correlation was also found between hyperdiploidy and decreased absolute lymphocyte count, an indicator of benzene hematotoxicity, in the exposed group (r = -0.44, p = 0.003) but not in controls (r = -0.09, p = 0.58). These results show that high benzene exposure induces aneuploidy of chromosome 9 in nondiseased individuals, with trisomy being the most prevalent form. They further highlight the usefulness of interphase cytogenetics and FISH for the rapid and sensitive detection of aneuploidy in exposed human populations.

The magnitude of health risks to workers associated with current and past exposures to butadiene has been the subject of considerable recent debate. Butadiene is metabolized in-vivo and in-vitro to the genotoxic intermediates 3,4-epoxybutene and diepoxybutane. Studies in animals and in in-vitro systems have clearly demonstrated that 1,3-butadiene is a genotoxin and a potent inducer of sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs). Data on the genotoxicity of butadiene in humans is, however, limited. Epidemiologic data indicate that butadiene is a probable human carcinogen. Recent work has further demonstrated that cultured lymphocytes from the approximately 20% of the Caucasian population that lack the glutathione S-transferase class theta gene (GSTT1) are relatively sensitive to the induction of cytogenetic damage by butadiene metabolites. In order to test whether butadiene exposure was associated with increases in SCE frequencies in peripheral blood lymphocytes and whether any increase observed could be affected by the DEB sensitivity-GSTT1 deletion, we studied 40 workers employed in the production of butadiene. In these workers baseline frequencies of SCEs, diepoxybutane-induced SCE frequencies and GSTT1 deletion status were assessed. Questionnaires were administered to each worker and exposure to 1,3-butadiene was determined using three separate approaches. Industrial hygiene personal sampling was used to measure breathing zone butadiene exposure and urine was collected to use in measurement of the urinary butadiene metabolite 1,2-dihydroxy-4-(N-acetylcysteinyl-S-)-butane (M1). Exposure to butadiene was generally below 2 ppm. The urinary metabolite M1 was found.

1,3-Butadiene (BD), a chemical used extensively in the production of styrene-butadiene rubber, is carcinogenic in Sprague-Dawley rats and E6C3F(1) mice. Chronic inhalation studies revealed profound species differences in the potency and organ-site specificity of BD carcinogenesis between rats and mice. BD is a potent carcinogen in mice and a weak carcinogen in rats. Previous studies from our laboratory and others have shown marked differences between rats and mice in the metabolism of BD, which may account for species differences in carcinogenicity. The purpose of the present study was to examine the production and disposition of two mutagenic BD metabolites, butadiene monoepoxide (BDO) and butadiene diepoxide (BDO2), in blood and other tissues of rats and mice during and following inhalation exposures to a target concentration of 62.5 p.p.m. BD. BDO was increased above background in blood, bone marrow, heart, lung, fat, spleen and thymus tissues of mice after 2 h and 4 h exposures to BD. In rats, levels of BDO were increased in blood, fat, spleen and thymus tissues. No increases in BDO were observed in rat lungs. BDO2, the more mutagenic of the two epoxides, was increased in the blood of rats and mice at 2 and 4 h after initiation of exposure to BD. In mice, BDO2 was detected in all tissues examined immediately following the 4 h exposure. This metabolite was detected in heart, lung, fat, spleen and thymus of rats, but at levels 40- to 160-fold lower than those seen in mice. Immediately after the 4 h exposure, blood levels of BDO2 were 204 +/- 15 pmol/g for mice but were 41-fold lower for rats. In the sensitive mouse target organs, heart and lungs, levels of BDO2 exceeded BDO levels immediately after the exposure. This study shows that the levels of BD epoxides are markedly greater in the mouse BD target organs. The high concentrations of BDO2 in these organs suggest that this compound may be particularly important in BD-induced carcinogenesis. Thus, although BD is oxidatively metabolized by similar metabolic pathways in rats and mice, the substantial quantitative differences in tissue levels of mutagenic epoxides between species may be responsible for the increased sensitivity of mice to BD-induced carcinogenicity.

Occupational exposure to benzene is known to cause leukemia, but the mechanism remains unclear. Unlike most other carcinogens, benzene and its metabolites are weakly or nonmutagenic in most simple gene mutation assays. Benzene and its metabolites do, however, produce chromosomal damage in a variety of systems. Here, we have used the glycophorin A (GPA) gene loss mutation assay to evaluate the nature of DNA damage produced by benzene in 24 workers heavily exposed to benzene and 23 matched control individuals in Shanghai, China. The GPA assay identifies stem cell or precursor erythroid cell mutations expressed in peripheral erythrocytes of MN-heterozygous subjects, distinguishing the NN and N phi mutant variants. A significant increase in the NN GPA variant cell frequency (Vf) was found in benzene-exposed workers as compared with unexposed control individuals (mean +/- SEM, 13.9 +/- 1.7 per million cells vs. 7.4 +/- 1.1 per million cells in control individuals; P = 0.0002). In contrast, no significant difference existed between the two groups for the N phi Vf (9.1 +/- 0.9 vs. 8.8 +/- 1.8 per million cells; P = 0.21). Further, lifetime cumulative occupational exposure to benzene was associated with the NN Vf (P = 0.005) but not with the N phi Vf (P = 0.31), suggesting that NN mutations occur in longer-lived bone marrow stem cells. NN variants result from loss of the GPA M allele and duplication of the N allele, presumably through recombination mechanisms, whereas NO variants arise from gene inactivation, presumably due to point mutations and deletions. Thus, these results suggest that benzene produces gene-duplicating mutations but does not produce gene-inactivating mutations at the GPA locus in bone marrow cells of humans exposed to high benzene levels. This finding is consistent with data on the genetic toxicology of benzene and its metabolites and adds further weight to the hypothesis that chromosome damage and mitotic recombination are important in benzene-induced leukemia.

A technical, defensible basis for the number and placement of air sampling instruments in a radioactive materials handling facility was developed. Historical air sampling data, process and physicochemical knowledge, qualitative smoke dispersion studies with video documentation, and quantitative trace gas dispersion studies were used to develop a strategy for number and placement of air samplers. These approaches can be used in other facilities to provide a basis for operational decisions. The requirements for retrospective sampling, personal sampling, and real-time monitoring are included. Other relevant operational decisions include selecting the numbers, placement, and appropriate sampling rates for instruments, identifying areas of stagnation or recirculation, and determining the adequacy and efficiency of any sampling transport lines. Justification is presented for using a graded approach to characterizing the workplace and determining air sampling and monitoring needs.

Benzene is metabolized to intermediates that bind to hemoglobin, forming adducts. These hemoglobin adducts may be usable as biomarkers of exposure. In this paper, we describe the development of a gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy assay for quantitating the binding of the benzene metabolite, benzene oxide, to cysteine groups in hemoglobin. We used this assay to study the hemoglobin adduct, S-phenylcysteine (SPC), in the blood of rats and mice exposed to benzene either by inhalation or by gavage. We were able to detect SPC in the hemoglobin of exposed rats and mice, to show the linearity of the exposure dose-response relationship, and to establish the sensitivity limits of this assay. For the same exposure regime, rats showed considerably higher levels of SPC than did mice. As yet, we have not been able to detect SPC in the globin of humans occupationally exposed to benzene. We attempted to determine whether the SPC found in hemoglobin originated from the metabolism of benzene within or outside of the red blood cell. We hypothesized that the greatest red blood cell metabolism would be associated with peripheral reticulocytes, which retain high metabolic capacity. After exposing rats to benzene, we isolated the red blood cells and used discontinuous Percoll gradients to fractionate them into age groups. No differences in SPC levels were found among any of the fractions, suggesting that the SPC found in globin originates from the metabolism of benzene to benzene oxide in a location external to the red blood cell. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the nonenzymatic binding of the benzene metabolite, benzene oxide, to protein. The products of the interaction of benzene oxide with protein are particularly appealing as potential biomarkers. These adducts are stable both in vivo and during isolation, and because high background levels in unexposed individuals are unlikely, the presence of such adducts should be a specific indicator of exposure to benzene. If SPC can be detected in humans, the present assay, with some modification, may be amenable to routine monitoring of worker exposures to benzene.