How is benzene excreted from the body?
benzene metabolism, which results in the production of several reactive metabolites. metabolized and excreted predominantly as conjugated urinary metabolites. pathways appear to become saturated and a large portion of an absorbed dose of benzene is excreted as parent compound in exhaled air.
What happens if benzene is ingested?
Ingestion. Acute toxic effects can result from ingestion of benzene. A burning sensation of the oral mucous membranes, esophagus, and stomach may occur after ingestion. Nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain may also result from oral ingestion.
How long does it take benzene to break down?
E. Environmental Fate: Benzene can volatilize into the air from water and soil (2, 76). Benzene can break down within a few days in air, whereas benzene breaks down more slowly in water and soil. It can also easily leach from the soil into groundwater.
Is benzene stored in the body?
Once in the bloodstream, benzene travels throughout your body and can be temporarily stored in the bone marrow and fat. Benzene is converted to products, called metabolites, in the liver and bone marrow.
Why is benzene so carcinogenic?
Benzene has been shown to cause chromosome changes in bone marrow cells in the lab. (The bone marrow is where new blood cells are made.) Such changes are commonly found in human leukemia cells.
Why is benzene toxic?
It is also found in gasoline and the smoke that comes from cigarettes. Benzene poisoning can be lethal because it causes the cells in the body to work incorrectly. Benzene exposure can cause bone marrow cells to not produce red blood cells or it can can cause the white blood cells of your immune system to fail.
How do you neutralize benzene?
The level of benzene in blood can be efficiently reduced, an its noxious effect neutralized, by the concurrent administration of either of two groups of organic compounds: 1) methyl donors such as choline and betaine; and, 2) cysteine-HCL.
How poisonous is benzene?
Benzene is very poisonous. Poisoning can cause rapid death. However, deaths have occurred as long as 3 days after the poisoning.
What is benzene poisoning?
Benzene poisoning occurs when someone swallows, breathes in, or touches benzene. It is a member of a class of compounds known as hydrocarbons. Human exposure to hydrocarbons is a common problem. This article is for information only. DO NOT use it to treat or manage an actual poison exposure.
How do you test for benzene?
Detector tubes can be used to detect benzene precisely, quickly, and economically. The new 0.25/a Dräger-Tube®measures to the lowest concentrations above 0.25 ppm. Measuring benzene using detector tubes is fast and simple. The tubes can easily be operated by non-experts using a hand pump – even in Ex areas.
Is benzene biodegradable?
Benzene released to soil or waterways is subject to volatilization, photooxidation, and biodegradation. Biodegradation, principally under aerobic conditions, is an important environmental fate process for water- and soil-associated benzene. Benzene is ubiquitous in the atmosphere.
What is the half life of benzene?
Degradation in the atmosphere occurs primarily by indirect phototransformation. With high stability and minimal reactivity, the half-life of benzene in the atmosphere can range from 3 to 10 days (tropospheric half-life is 7–22 days), enabling it to be transported locally and regionally.