Blood Concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds Among US Workers From Various Trades.

This study aimed to examine blood benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, and m-/p-xylene (BTEX) concentrations and their trends contrasting construction workers with workers in other occupations from 1999 to 2014 in the United States.

Methods

Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, quantile regressions were performed to investigate associations between occupation and blood BTEX concentrations.

Results

We found that high-risk and construction occupations were associated with increased blood concentrations of toluene, o-xylene, and m-/p-xylene at the 50-90th percentiles (P 50-90 ), and ethylbenzene at P 70-90 . Moreover, although blood concentrations of ethylbenzene, o-xylene, and m-/p-xylene trended down among all US workers, no decreasing trend was observed for benzene and toluene among construction workers.

Conclusions

Future studies are warranted to address questions about specific tasks to better assess VOC exposure from various trades.