Biological monitoring of exposure to benzene in traffic policemen of north India.

Occupational health of traffic policemen employed at six major towns of north India was monitored during these investigations. Traffic controllers face the risk of exposure to benzene present in the ambient air as a component of fuel exhaust. Inhaled benzene is metabolized and excreted as phenol. Our observations on urinary phenol show much higher values than prescribed by ACGIH. Furthermore, social habits like alcohol consumption and cigarette smoke were found to modulate benzene metabolism. It was noticed that cigarette smoke synergizes the effect of benzene whereas antagonistic effects of alcohol were observed.