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Drinking Water Problems: Benzene

By: Monty Dozier and Bruce Lesikar

Occurrence of Benzene in Texas 

What are the Potential Health Effects of Benzene? 

Everyone is exposed to a small amount of benzene every day, most often through breathing automobile exhaust and gasoline vapors, tobacco smoke and industrial emissions. Workers involved in benzene-producing industries may inhale it in airborne vapor. Though not as common, exposure also can occur through consumption of benzene-contaminated drinking water. 

Large concentrations of benzene in groundwater can be a health risk because benzene is known to cause cancer. The maximum contaminant level goal set by the EPA is zero (0) micrograms per liter (µg/L). Based on this number, the maximum contaminant level for benzene is 5 µg/L. This is the level of benzene that public water suppliers must meet in order to comply with national standards. The maximum contaminant level is usually slightly higher than the goal due to the limitations of present technology and the resources available to remove benzene from drinking water. 

Private water wells are not regulated. Private water well owners or users who store gasoline on their property, live within a half-mile of a gasoline station or petroleum storage or refining facility, or notice a sweet, chemical smell in their water should have their water wells tested for benzene. 

Benzene attacks the central nervous system; acute exposure to high levels can be fatal. Breathing benzene can cause drowsiness, dizziness, rapid heart rate, headaches, tremors, confusion and unconsciousness. Consumption of high levels of benzene can lead to vomiting, stomach irritation, dizziness, sleepiness, convulsion, rapid heart rate and death. 

Benzene also is known to cause cancer. Long-term or chronic exposure to benzene can damage bone marrow and decrease red blood cell counts, which leads to aplastic anemia with its abnormally low counts of red and white blood cells and platelets. Breathing high levels of benzene for a long time can cause leukemia and/or disruptions of the bone marrow. Long-term exposures also can damage chromosomes, depress the immune system, reduce the size of women's ovaries and disrupt the menstrual cycle. 

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