Benzene and cortisol: relationship in workers exposed to outdoor pollution

Introduction: The purpose of our study is to assess whether individual exposure to low-dose benzene in urban air may affect the plasma concentrations of cortisol in a population of outdoor workers in a large Italian city. Materials and methods: From a population of 1594 workers, 100 outdoor workers were selected. For each worker, a blood sampling was performed to measure benzene and cortisol. KolmogorovSmirnov test was used to verify the normality of distribution of the different variables. On the total sample, student T tests were performed for 2 mode variables (sex, smoke and job) and ANOVA test for variables with more than 2 modes (age and seniority). Pearson’s correlation index between 70 Prevention & Research 2017; 6(4):70-75 the variables in the total sample and after division on the basis of sex, smoking habit and manners was evaluated. Were considered significant results with p values below 0.05. Results: Our study did not show statistically significant correlations between blood benzene levels and cortisol in none of the groups studied. Discussion: Further studies are needed to confirm the existence of possible significant association between occupational exposure to benzene and cortisol levels alteration.