Health symptoms associated with occupational exposure of gasoline station workers to BTEX compounds

Abstract

Abstract Workers in gasoline stations may experience health symptoms due to inhalation to benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene (BTEX) species in their work environment. Air samplers installed in gasoline stations indicate exposure concentration during the workday as high as 225–723 μg benzene/m3, in excess of the NIOSH exposure limits of 135 μg benzene/m3 (adjusted for the actual exposure time of workers in this study). According to a deterministic health assessment, there was an elevated cancer risk for workers due to exposure to benzene (4.2 × 10−4 to 1.4 × 10−3) and ethyl benzene (1.1 × 10−4 and 3.5 × 10−4), which were greater than the acceptable limit of 1 × 10−6. Stochastic exposure assessment with a Monte Carlo simulation revealed serious carcinogenic risks to all workers in the gasoline station, regardless of whether they were operating the gasoline pumps or doing other tasks, such as collecting money. In response to a health questionnaire, the dominant symptoms reported by gasoline station workers were headache (50%), depression (40%), fatigue (25%), and throat irritation (20%). We recommend better ventilation systems to remove BTEX species from the environment, either by installing fans or building gasoline stations in locations with good natural air exchange.