Hematological findings among styrene-exposed workers in the reinforced plastics industry

A cross-sectional survey of hematological parameters was carried out among 221 workers exposed to styrene in the reinforced plastics industry and 104 controls. Styrene exposure was assessed in both groups by monitoring urinary excretion of styrene metabolites (i.e. mandelic and phenylglyoxylic acids) in post-shift urinary samples collected over five consecutive days. Blood tests were performed with the same counter for all subjects. Information on factors liable to affect hematological parameters was collected from personal questionnaires completed by the workers. Urinary excretion of styrene metabolites varied from 15 to 3740 mg/g creatinine. Exposed subjects exhibited significantly lower mean values of neutrophils and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) than controls, and significantly higher mean values for monocytes and mean corpuscular volume. A dose-effect relationship was found for MCHC which decreased with urinary metabolite concentrations. These results remained statistically significant for all parameters after adjustment for age, sex, tobacco and alcohol consumption, place of residence (rural or urban) and time of blood sampling (morning or afternoon) with the exception of neutrophils whose relationship with exposure was essentially explained by smoking. These results are suggestive of a direct effect of styrene-exposure — in the range considered — on the statistical distribution of some hematological parameters.