The urine trans, trans muconic acid biomarker and platelet count in a sample of subjects with benzene exposure.

Benzene exposure is of particular concern because of ongoing exposure to thousands of workers. Prolonged exposure can cause chronic toxicity, especially hematologic disorders. The effects of benzene on red blood cells and white blood cells have been clearly proposed; however, the effect of benzene on platelets has not been studied. The correlation between the level of trans, trans muconic acid (ttMA), a urine metabolite of benzene, and the platelet count of subjects occupationally exposed to benzene was studied. Thirty volunteers who were occupationally exposed to benzene were investigated for both urine ttMA levels and platelet parameters. According to the regression analysis, no significant correlation existed between urine ttMA level and any platelet parameters (p > 0.05). However, although there is no statistical significance, the platelet count and PCT decreased while the urine ttMA increased. In addition, using the upper normal limit ttMA level as the cutoff level, the statistically significant lower platelet count and PCT was observed in the subjects with urine ttMA higher than upper normal limit. This report is the first world report on this topic and the results from this study can provide good basic data for further understanding the effect of benzene exposure on the platelet.