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BACKGROUND: Computational modeling of the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of chemicals is now theoretically able to describe metabolic interactions in realistic mixtures of tens to hundreds of substances. That [...]

BACKGROUND: Studies relying on outdoor pollutants measures have reported associations between air pollutants and birth weight. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to assess the relation between maternal personal exposure to airborne [...]

BACKGROUND: Recent evidence has shown that humans metabolize benzene more efficiently at environmental air concentrations than at concentrations > 1 ppm. This led us to speculate that an unidentified metabolic [...]

BACKGROUND: Careful evaluation of the quality of human observational studies (HOS) is required to assess the suitability of HOS for quantitative risk assessment (QRA). In particular, the quality of quantitative [...]

BACKGROUND: Benzene is a human carcinogen. Exposure to benzene occurs in occupational and environmental settings. OBJECTIVE: I evaluated variation in benzene-related leukemia with age at exposure and time since exposure. [...]

BACKGROUND: The association between benzene exposure and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has been the subject of debate as a result of inconsistent epidemiologic evidence. An International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) working group evaluated benzene in 2009 and noted evidence for a positive association between benzene exposure and NHL risk. OBJECTIVE: we evaluated the association between occupational benzene exposure and NHL among 73,087 women enrolled in the prospective population-based Shanghai Women's Health Study. Methods: Benzene exposure estimates were derived using a previously developed exposure assessment framework that combined ordinal job-exposure matrix intensity ratings with quantitative benzene exposure measurements from an inspection database of Shanghai factories collected between 1954 and 2000. Associations between benzene exposure metrics and NHL (n = 102 cases) were assessed using Cox proportional hazard models, with study follow-up occurring from December 1996 through December 2009. RESULTS: women ever exposed to benzene had a significantly higher risk of NHL [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.19, 2.96]. Compared with unexposed women, significant trends in NHL risk were observed for increasing years of benzene exposure ([p.sub.trend] = 0.006) and increasing cumulative exposure levels ([p.sub.trend] = 0.005), with the highest duration and cumulative exposure tertiles having a significantly higher association with NHL (HR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.07, 4.01 and HR = 2.16, 95% CI: 1.17, 3.98, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings, using a population-based prospective cohort of women with diverse occupational histories, provide additional evidence that occupational exposure to benzene is associated with NHL risk. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1289/ehp.1408307, Introduction Benzene is a common occupational solvent that has been used in multiple industries, particularly as a chemical intermediate in the production of plastics and in rubber manufacturing, and has [...]