EXPOSURE TO HIGH LEVELS OF BENZENE AND RISK OF CANCER

摘要

The city of Volta Redonda has as main source of industrial activity, the largest steel facility in Brazil. Its coke production is claimed to be a major source of benzene in the city. Two campaigns coordinated by FEEMA (Rio de Janeiro State Environmental Protection Agency) were carried out to determine the benzene levels. In the first campaign (1995/96) extremely high values of benzene (highest 1,644 μg/m~3) were found presenting a mean of 70 μg/m~3. In the 1999 evaluation, these values dropped to 104 μg/m~3 and 23 μg/m~3, respectively. However, the measured benzene concentrations are still above the international recommendations. The high benzene levels can be correlated with the high cancer rates found in that city. These results show that the facility's environmental procedures have to be further evaluated and the monitoring program has to be continued to serve as a guidance for the final solution of this problem.