Association between Urban Benzene Pollution and Incidence of Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Background: Benzene has been classified as group 1 human carcinogens in the environment by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) mainly because of its ability to cause acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This study was conducted to detect any probable association between urban benzene pollution concentration and occurrence of AML in different regions of Tehran.  Methods: In this descriptive study, demographic data of AML cases recorded in cancer registry centers of Tehran city since March 2006-2011 who met the inclusion criteria were extracted. Eligible criteria included residing in Tehran city for at least 5 years prior to diagnosis of AML. Collected data were correlated with concentration of benzene in ambient air available since March 2001 to March 2011.  Results: The majority of AML subjects were male in the age range of 20-30 years. Maximum concentration of benzene was reported from southern (11.35-106.57 ppb) and central (5.5-60.18ppb) regions of Tehran. The association between benzene concentration with occurrence of AML was observed significant for the period between March 2010 to March 2011 for male patients (Pearson correlation=0.906, P=0.05) in the age range of 30-40 years (Pearson correlation=0.893, P=0.041).  Conclusion: This study suggested probable evidence for the association between the incidence of AML and concentration of benzene in southern and central areas of Tehran city.