State of the science on the carcinogenicity of gasoline with particular reference to cohort mortality study results
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
As a result of the content of benzene in various streams of refinery products, including gasoline, it is not surprising that over the years studies and case reports have linked gasoline exposure to lymphopoietic cancers (LPC), particularly leukemia and multiple myeloma (MM). Of three recently conducted studies of gasoline-exposed workers, one shows strong associations with leukemia and MM, a second suggests some association with leukemia and did not analyze data for MM, and the third study is not possible to evaluate because of a major problem with study design. Other diseases of particular interest in relation to gasoline exposure are kidney cancer, malignant melanoma, and heart disease. One study suggests an association with kidney cancer, but the second study did not. There appears to be no association between employment in refineries or gasoline exposure and heart disease. However, evaluation of risk of kidney cancer and heart disease is somewhat difficult because investigators did not control for cigarette smoking, even though it is related to these diseases. This is of particular concern when studying gasoline-exposed workers, who because of the explosive nature of gasoline probably smoke less than the general population used for comparison of mortality. Some studies of refinery workers and gasoline-exposed workers in particular show an excess risk of death from malignant melanoma. Whether this latter association is the result of benzene/gasoline exposure, sunlight exposure, or a combination of the two cannot be determined with the data currently available. The National Toxicology Program benzene cancer bioassay and the Dow Chemical Company epidemiologic study argue in favor of a benzene etiology; the fact that the workers spend a great amount of time outdoors argues in favor of a sunlight etiology. Finally, the American Petroleum Institute is challenged to apply warning labels and filling instructions to gasoline pumps and containers. 32 refs.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 478940
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9111356-; ISSN 0091-6765; TRN: 97:000657-0014
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 101, Issue Suppl.6; Conference: International symposium on the health effects of gasoline, Miami, FL (United States), 5-8 Nov 1991; Other Information: PBD: Dec 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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