Risk estimation of benzene-induced leukemia by radiation equivalent dose

Based on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki epidemiological study, risk assessment system for radiation has been well developed and is practically applied to the international protection standards. Hence, defining the radiation equivalent dose for chemical agents could place in the order of their risk. As well as the radiation, benzene causes leukemia to humans. Therefore, we evaluated the radiation-equivalent dose for benzene based on chromosome aberration rates induced by its metabolites and low-dose rate radiation because chromosome aberration is thought to be closely related to the leukemogenesis. Using radiation risk coefficient, the leukemia risk caused by 1 mg/m3 benzene inhalation was estimated 5.5 - 7.3 x 10-8, which is underestimated compared to other studies based on human epidemiological researches. (author)