摘要
大部份苯的製造都來自石油之精煉產物。在工業上通常使用於清潔、去污、稀釋、粘著劑。石化工業以苯為原料，用來合成苯乙烯、烷基苯、己內醯胺等。由表l可知許多工業或作業之勞工均可能暴露於苯。值得注意的是由於它的抗震爆特性，富含芳香族的混合物被加入汽油中取代烷基鉛化合物。此舉雖然降低了空氣中之鉛污染，但卻可能提高空氣中苯之濃度。而菸塵中也含苯的成分，每天抽一包香菸者可能吸入1mg之苯。由於貯存不當，貯油槽之滲漏也可能污染地下水源，造成飲水中苯污染。由於苯廣泛使用於工業上，苯暴露之作業勞工的身體健康是值得關心的課題。自19世紀末起，陸續有苯暴露造成再生不良性貧血(aplastic anemia)及白血症(leukemia)，尤其是急性骨髓母細胞性白血症(acute myeloblastic leukemia；AML)的案例被報告。苯的骨髓毒性因而受到注意。其後的研究確定苯中毒的骨髓毒性，在義大利及土耳其的兩個世代追蹤研究都發現苯暴露勞工的白血病標準化死亡比顯著高於一般民衆。在同一時期很多化學治療的藥物被發現亦有骨髓抑制性，因此很多學者投入研究苯毒性之研究。
關鍵字
苯並列摘要
Benzene (C6H6) is the first member of a series of aromatic hydrocarbons. It is a clear, colorless, highly flammable liquid at temperature. Because of its lipophilic nature, benzene is an excellent solvent. Its use in paints, thinners, inks, adhesives, and rubbers. Another primary use is an intermediate in the production of other chemicals. Because of its many uses, benzene is widespread in the environment. Benzene exposure affects the central nervous system (CNS) and hematopoietic system. The causal relationiship between benzene exposure and leukemia (predominant type, AML) has only recently accepted widely. Benzene-induced aplastic anemia is caused by chronic exposure at relatively high dose. AML is frequently preceded by functional abnormalities bone marrow before the appaerance of leukemia. Collectively, these abnormalitis have been termed the preleukemic syndrome or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)