International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol 22, S51-S56, Copyright © 1993 by International Epidemiological Association
S Lagorio, F Forastiere, I Iavarone, N Vanacore, S Fuselli and A Carere
A historical cohort of service station attendants is underway. It is aimed
at evaluating possible excess cancer risk in relation to exposure
intensity. In this paper we discuss the feasibility of a retrospective
exposure assessment by evaluating the association between indicators of
workload and the exposure intensity to some aromatic hydrocarbons measured
in a sample of current employees. Available for the analysis were 703
personal samples from 111 filling station workers. Measured concentrations
of benzene, toluene and xylenes (8-hour time weighted averages) averaged
0.55 mg/m3, 0.71 mg/m3 and 0.32 mg/m3, respectively. The number of vehicles
filled, the daily sales of super premium gasoline and motorbike fuel, and
the winter season were all significant predictors of the log concentration
of benzene in simple regression analyses. The size of the station acted as
an effect modifier. While no single variable was able to predict the
benzene level in large stations, for small stations an increase of 0.0579
and of 0.0418 in the log benzene concentration per unit increase in super
premium gasoline (100 I) and in motorbike fuel (10 I) dispensed, was
estimated. The overall variance explained by the multivariate model,
however, was only 12.3%. Therefore, a clear categorization of groups with
homogeneous and significantly different exposure levels is not achievable.
From the point of view of exposure assessment, workers in small stations
with higher sales of super premium gasoline tend to have higher exposure
levels. This group should be examined in detail when the final results of
the cohort study are available.
ARTICLES
Exposure assessment in a historical cohort of filling station attendants
Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Laboratorio Igiene Ambientale, Rome, Italy.
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