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of exposure to benzene, being intake from food and water consumption negligible
(MacLeod and Mackay
1999
). Short-term exposure to benzene via inhalation may
cause drowsiness, dizziness, delirium, loss of consciousness, respiratory arrest and
even death. Benzene is a known clastogen, and its long-term exposure may cause
anaemia and leukaemia (Chilcott
2007
). WHO reported that no safe level of
exposure can be recommended for benzene (WHO
2010
).
In the absence of indoor sources of benzene, indoor concentrations are deter-
mined by outdoor ones. Major outdoor sources of benzene are traffic and industrial
activities such as petrochemical industry, oil refineries, coal and coke manufac-
turing, rubber industry, shoe manufacturing and laboratories (ATSDR
2013b
).
Main indoor sources of benzene are ETS, stored fuels, paint supplies and solvents,
attached garages, heating and cooking systems, cleaning products, and printers and
copiers (Lai et al.
2007
). Indoor benzene may also be emitted from building
materials and furniture, including carpets, chipboard and PVC flooring, and
plywood (Yu et al.
2002
).
Figure
6
shows indoor and outdoor concentrations of benzene from selected
studies. Indoor concentrations of benzene in both buildings and residences are
generally greater than outdoor ones, with some exceptions on the EXPOLIS study
performed in Oxford (Lai et al.
2004
) and Milan (not shown in Fig.
6
, Lai et al.
2007
), and the AIRMEX study performed in 11 European cities (Geiss et al.
2011
).
For the remaining EXPOLIS cities (not shown in Fig.
6
), Athens, Basel and
Prague, greater benzene concentrations were found indoors with respect to outdoor
ones. Outdoor benzene concentrations, outdoor temperature, outdoor wind speed
and ETS strongly influence indoor benzene concentration (Lai et al.
2007
).
10.0
7.5
5.0
2.5
0.0
Cities
>100.000
inh., USA [1]
EPA 5
Region,
USA [2]
Helsinki,
Finland [3]
Oxford,
UK [4]
Minnesota,
USA [5]
Mexico
City [6]
Three urban
centers,
USA [7]
11 cities,
Europe [8]
Bilbao,
Spain [9]
Workplace (building) indoor
Residential indoor
Outdoor
Fig. 6 Indoor building, residential and outdoor average concentrations of benzene from selected
studies: (1) BASE (US EPA
2013a
), (2) NHEXAS (Gordon et al.
1999
), (3) EXPOLIS, Helsinki
(Edwards et al.
2001
), (4) EXPOLIS Oxford (Lai et al.
2004
), (5) MNCPES (Adgate et al.
2004
),
(6) Serrano-Trespalacios et al. (
2004
), (7) RIOPA (Weisel et al.
2005
), (8) AIRMEX (Geiss et al.
2011
), (9) de Blas et al.
2012
. Bars indicate standard errors
