Health Risk Assessment for Benzene Occupational Exposure Using Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Model and Dose-Response Model

In last few decades, benzene was widely used in the process industry of China, which resulted in more and more serious occupational health problems. To provide theoretical foundation for the reduction of occupational health risk, a quantitative method for benzene exposure health risk assessment using physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model and dose-response model was put forward. The processes of absorption, distribution and metabolism of benzene in the bodies of benzene-exposed workers after inhaling were described by PBPK model. Then, the cancer risk can be calculated from the multistage dose-response model parameterized by the internal dose drawn from the PBPK model. The risk of workers exposed to benzene in a workplace is estimated. Results show that the incremental cancer risk falls within the range from 10^-3 to 10^-5, higher than the acceptable risk level.