Abstract

A number of recent publications concerning the human risk assessment of benzene was evaluated in order to check if the toxicological limit value derived in the Integrated Criteria Document on benzene (RIVM, 1987) needed to be revised. In the Integrated Criteria Document a non threshold extrapolation method was used, because of the carcinogenic and genotoxic properties of bezene. Using epidemiological data, it was calculated that a concentration of 0,12 mug.m-3 corresponds to a risk of one additional case of leukemia in one million persons exposed for lifetime. The Health Council of the Netherlands subsequently advised to increase this value by two orders of magnitude, because linear non threshold extrapolation would be an overestimation of the actual risk. On the basis of recent studies there is, however, no reason to deviate from the risk assessment approach adopted in the Integrated Criteria Document or to increase the previous derived toxicological limit value.