An important new study was recently released indicating that there is no causal association between ambient exposure to either solvents or benzene and the development of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). The report adds to a growing body of literature demonstrating no discernable risk for typical community benzene exposures.
From bisphenol-A to benzene some researchers are claiming that some toxic substances not only don't have a no observable effect level (NOEL) but also that the shape of the dose response curve for these substances at low levels is supralinear. What that all means is that the bane of any toxic tort litigator, the linear dose response assumption implying that even one molecule poses some risk, understates the actual risk associated with very low levels of exposure.
In "Evidence That Humans Metabolize Benzene via Two Pathways" by Rappaport, et al. hypothesize that at low levels of benzene exposure (less than one ppm) humans metabolize the aromatic molecule much more efficiently than at higher levels due to some as-yet unidentified metabolic pathway. Consequently "true leukemia risks" from exposure to benzene at what are considered acceptable ambient levels may instead pose significantly greater risks than are currently contemplated by regulators, according to the authors.
A meta-analysis of six case-control studies of occupationally exposed workers shows that chronic myelogenous leukemia risk is not associated with benzene exposure.
The pen is the best, the most excellent former and director of the tongue.
- Cicero "De Oratore"
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