Occupational exposure to benzene and chromosomal structural aberrations in the sperm of Chinese men.

Publisher: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0330411 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1552-9924 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00916765 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Environ Health Perspect Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Research Triangle Park, N. C. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Occupational Exposure*; Benzene/*toxicity ; Chromosome Aberrations/*chemically induced ; Environmental Pollutants/*toxicity ; Spermatozoa/*drug effects; Adult ; Benzene/analysis ; Benzene/standards ; China ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Environmental Pollutants/standards ; Environmental Pollutants/urine ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sorbic Acid/analogs & derivatives ; Sorbic Acid/analysis ; Young Adult

Background: Benzene is an industrial chemical that causes blood disorders, including acute myeloid leukemia. We previously reported that occupational exposures near the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible exposure limit (8 hr) of 1 ppm was associated with sperm aneuploidy.
Objective: We investigated whether occupational exposures near 1 ppm increase the incidence of sperm carrying structural chromosomal aberrations.
Methods: We applied a sperm fluorescence in situ hybridization assay to measure frequencies of sperm carrying partial chromosomal duplications or deletions of 1cen or 1p36.3 or breaks within 1cen-1q12 among 30 benzene-exposed and 11 unexposed workers in Tianjin, China, as part of the China Benzene and Sperm Study (C-BASS). Exposed workers were categorized into low-, moderate-, and high-exposure groups based on urinary benzene (medians: 2.9, 11.0, and 110.6 µg/L, respectively). Median air benzene concentrations in the three exposure groups were 1.2, 3.7, and 8.4 ppm, respectively.
Results: Adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all structural aberrations combined were 1.42 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.83), 1.44 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.85), and 1.75 (95% CI: 1.36, 2.24) and for deletion of 1p36.3 alone were 4.31 (95% CI: 1.18, 15.78), 6.02 (95% CI: 1.69, 21.39), and 7.88 (95% CI: 2.21, 28.05) for men with low, moderate, and high exposure, respectively, compared with unexposed men. Chromosome breaks were significantly increased in the high-exposure group [IRR 1.49 (95% CI: 1.10, 2.02)].
Conclusions: Occupational exposures to benzene were associated with increased incidence of chromosomally defective sperm, raising concerns for worker infertility and spontaneous abortions as well as mental retardation and inherited defects in their children. Our sperm findings point to benzene as a possible risk factor for de novo 1p36 deletion syndrome. Because chromosomal aberrations in sperm can arise from defective stem cells/spermatogonia, our findings raise concerns that occupational exposure to benzene may have persistent reproductive effects in formerly exposed workers.

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R03 ES015340 United States ES NIEHS NIH HHS; P42 ES004705 United States ES NIEHS NIH HHS; R03 ES015340-02 United States ES NIEHS NIH HHS; IAG Y01-ES-8016-5 United States ES NIEHS NIH HHS; P42 ES04705 United States ES NIEHS NIH HHS

0 (Environmental Pollutants)
3KD92ZL2KH (muconic acid)
J64922108F (Benzene)
X045WJ989B (Sorbic Acid)

Date Created: 20111117 Date Completed: 20120529 Latest Revision: 20211021

20240104

PMC3279447

10.1289/ehp.1103921

22086566