Health Effects of Benzene Exposure among Children Following a Flaring Incident at the BP Refinery
Human exposure to benzene is associated with multiple adverse health effects leading to hematological malignancies. The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate the health consequences of benzene exposure in children following a flaring incident at the British petroleum (BP) refinery in the Texas City, Texas. The study included children aged <17 years who had been exposed and unexposed to benzene. Using medical charts, clinical data including white blood cell (WBC) counts, platelets counts, hemoglobin, hematocrit, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT), and somatic symptom complaints by the children exposed to benzene were reviewed and analyzed. A total of 312 subjects (benzene exposed, n = 157 and unexposed, n = 155) were included. Hematologic analysis showed that WBC counts were significantly decreased in benzene-exposed children compared with the unexposed children (6.8 ± 2.1 versus 7.3 ± 1.7, P = .022). Conversely, platelet (X 103 per μL) counts were increased significantly in the benzene-exposed group compared with the unexposed group (278.4 ± 59.9 versus 261.6 ± 51.7, P = .005). Similarly, benzene-exposed children had significantly higher levels of ALP (183.7± 95.6 versus 165 ± 70.3 IU/L, P = .04), AST (23.6 ± 15.3 versus 20.5 ± 5.5 IU/L, P = .015), and ALT (19.2 ± 7.8 versus 16.9 ± 6.9 IU/L, P = .005) compared with the unexposed children. Together, the results of the study reveal that children exposed to benzene experienced significantly altered blood profiles, liver enzymes, and somatic symptoms indicating that children exposed to benzene are at a higher risk of developing hepatic or blood related disorders.
CONCLUSION
The results of this retrospective study revealed that children exposed to toxic chemicals specifically benzene have significantly elevated health risks, specifically, alterations in their blood cells and liver enzymes, indicating that these children are at a high risk of developing hepatic or blood related disorders. Additional studies are underway to further understand the health consequences among subjects exposed to the benzene due to the flaring incident at the BP refinery facility in Texas City, Texas.
DECLARATION OF INTEREST
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.
This research study was published on October 1, 2013 by Pediatric Hematology and Oncolgy and the study can be viewed in its entirety at PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24088183.
