This study was structured to review recent literature on health and safety costs and to categorize costs as either direct or indirect. This delineation should aid in defining total health and safety costs, delineating priority areas for interventions to reduce costs, and evaluating the effectiveness of health and safety programs. Recommendations for follow-up activities to define costs and evaluate intervention programs are provided. Whether low-level benzene exposure produces health effects is controversial. The cross- sectional repeated survey design included 553 unexposed workers.
Lymphopenia is considered to be the earliest and most sensitive indicator of benzene toxicity.
Examination of other measures of hematotoxicity, including mean corpuscular volume and counts of total white blood cells, red blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelets, produced similar results. We conclude that risk of lymphopenia and other early indicators of hematotoxicity are not increased among workers in this study who were exposed to low levels of benzene. A database on incidents responded to by the team during the study period was also developed. From June 1990 through April 1995, the team responded to a total of 34 hazardous materials incidents. Few biochemical abnormalities were observed, and those that were could not be linked to specific exposures or incidents.