Infants' indoor and outdoor residential exposure to benzene and respiratory health in a Spanish cohort

Benzene exposure represents a potential risk for children's health. Apart from being a known carcinogen for humans (group 1 according to IARC), there is scientific evidence suggesting a relationship between benzene exposure and respiratory problems in children. But results are still inconclusive and inconsistent. This study aims to assess the determinants of exposure to indoor and outdoor residential benzene levels and its relationship with respiratory health in infants. Participants were 1-year-old infants (N = 352) from the INMA cohort from Valencia (Spain). Residential benzene exposure levels were measured inside and outside dwellings by means of passive samplers in a 15-day campaign. Persistent cough, low respiratory tract infections and wheezing during the first year of life, and covariates (dwelling traits, lifestyle factors and sociodemographic data) were obtained from parental questionnaires. Multiple Tobit regression and logistic regression models were performed to assess factors associated to residential exposure levels and health associations, respectively. Indoor levels were higher than outdoor ones (1.46 and 0.77 μg/m3, respectively; p