ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Benzene and naphthalene in air and breath as indicators of exposure to jet fuel

P P Egeghy¹, L Hauf-Cabalo¹, R Gibson², S M Rappaport¹

¹ Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7431, USA
² Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), Clinical and Program Policy, Skyline 5, Suite 601, 5111 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3206, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Prof. S M Rappaport
Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7431, USA; smr{at}unc.edu

Aims: To estimate exposures to benzene and naphthalene among military personnel working with jet fuel (JP-8) and to determine whether naphthalene might serve as a surrogate for JP-8 in studies of health effects.

Methods: Benzene and naphthalene were measured in air and breath of 326 personnel in the US Air Force, who had been assigned a priori into low, moderate, and high exposure categories for JP-8.

Results: Median air concentrations for persons in the low, moderate, and high exposure categories were 3.1, 7.4, and 252 µg benzene/m³ air, 4.6, 9.0, and 11.4 µg benzene/m³ breath, 1.9, 10.3, and 485 µg naphthalene/m³ air, and 0.73, 0.93, and 1.83 µg naphthalene/m³ breath, respectively. In the moderate and high exposure categories, 5% and 15% of the benzene air concentrations, respectively, were above the 2002 threshold limit value (TLV) of 1.6 mg/m³. Multiple regression analyses of air and breath levels revealed prominent background sources of benzene exposure, including cigarette smoke. However, naphthalene exposure was not unduly influenced by sources other than JP-8. Among heavily exposed workers, dermal contact with JP-8 contributed to air and breath concentrations along with several physical and environmental factors.

Conclusions: Personnel having regular contact with JP-8 are occasionally exposed to benzene at levels above the current TLV. Among heavily exposed workers, uptake of JP-8 components occurs via both inhalation and dermal contact. Naphthalene in air and breath can serve as useful measures of exposure to JP-8 and uptake of fuel components in the body.

Keywords: benzene; naphthalene; jet fuel; JP-8; biological monitoring; exhaled air; breath; aircraft maintenance

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• CHAO, Y.-C. E., GIBSON, R. L., NYLANDER-FRENCH, L. A. (2005). Dermal Exposure to Jet Fuel (JP-8) in US Air Force Personnel. ANN OCCUP HYG 49: 639-645 [Abstract] [Full Text]