Hematological findings among workers exposed to benzene at a coke oven by-product recovery facility.

Hematological findings on a population of 70 male workers exposed to benzene revealed no significant differences when compared statistically to a control group on the basis of estimated cumulative doses using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Dunnett's t statistic procedure. The hematological data evaluated included the following parameters: red blood cell counts, white blood cell counts, and hemoglobin levels. Cumulative benzene exposure indices for each employee were estimated utilizing available personal monitoring and general air sampling data, as well as the professional judgment of local environmental health engineers familiar with the operations. Although the accuracy of these exposure estimates is unknown, the results provide no evidence that the present OSHA standard (10 ppm) is inadequate with respect to the non-leukemogenic, hematotoxic effects of chronic benzene exposure.