Hematological and hepatic alterations in nonsmoking residents exposed to benzene following a flaring incident at the British petroleum plant in Texas City

Table 4 Comparison of hematological and hepatic indices by age group between unexposed and exposed nonsmoking subjects to benzene

Variable	Age Group	Unexposed^δ	Exposed^β	P value
WBC (× 10³ per μL)	< 40 years	7.3 ± 1.7	8.1 ± 2.8	0.001*
WBC (× 10³ per μL)	≥ 40 years	6.6 ± 1.6	7.6 ± 1.8	0.001*
Platelets (× 10³ per μL)	< 40 years	254.5 ± 55.3	286.9 ± 69.3	0.001*
Platelets (× 10³ per μL)	≥ 40 years	239.6 ± 53.1	272.1 ± 71.1	0.001*
Hemoglobin (g per dL)	< 40 years	13.9 ± 1.3	14.1 ± 1.8	0.13^ψ
Hemoglobin (g per dL)	≥ 40 years	14.0 ± 1.2	13.9 ± 1.7	0.13^ψ
Hematocrit (%)	< 40 years	41.6 ± 3.6	41.8 ± 4.4	0.10^ψ
Hematocrit (%)	≥ 40 years	42.0 ± 3.3	41.7 ± 4.4	0.13^ψ
BUN (mg per dL)	< 40 years	12.2 ± 3.1	12.6 ± 5.3	0.27^ψ
BUN (mg per dL)	≥ 40 years	14.8 ± 3.8	15.0 ± 5.7	0.25^ψ
Creatinine (mg per dL)	< 40 years	0.8 ± 0.2	1.0 ± 0.4	0.001*
Creatinine (mg per dL)	≥ 40 years	0.8 ± 0.2	1.1 ± 0.3	0.001*
ALP (IU per L)	< 40 years	70.2 ± 7.8	84.5 ± 11.3	0.001*
ALP (IU per L)	≥ 40 years	72.6 ± 8.6	89.4 ± 12.2	0.001*
AST (IU per L)	< 40 years	19.1 ± 5.2	24.3 ± 5.7	0.001*
AST (IU per L)	≥ 40 years	19.8 ± 5.3	26.1 ± 7.2	0.001*
ALT (IU per L)	< 40 years	19.8 ± 6.2	30.7 ± 6.2	0.001*
ALT (IU per L)	≥ 40 years	20.6 ± 6.7	32.1 ± 7.1	0.001*

*Differences between benzene exposed and unexposed groups are significant.
ψ = did not reach statistical significance.
WBC White blood cells, BUN Blood urea nitrogen, ALP Alkaline phosphatase, AST Aspartate amino transferase, ALT Alanine amino transferase.
^δUnexposed < 40 years: n = 128; ^δUnexposed ≥40 years: n = 201.
^βExposed <40 years: n = 561; ^βExposed ≥40 years: n = 532.

ISSN: 1476-069X