High benzene exposures have been found in car mechanics and road tanker drivers. The French study involved measuring levels of the established human carcinogen in the air throughout the working day for both occupations. Tanker drivers experienced the higher exposures, with some concentrations as high as 7.2 parts per million (ppm), higher than the then 5 ppm exposure limit in force in France and the UK (subsequently cut to 1 ppm). Car mechanics faced high exposures when undertaking tasks including dismantling petrol filters and tuning and repairing carburettors. The paper called for “individual and collective safety measures should be imposed in both occupations.” The findings suggest excesses of related cancers like leukaemia might be expected in these occupations after a latency period, with the related cancers emerging sometime around or after 2020.

B Javelaud and others. Benzene exposure in car mechanics and road tanker drivers, International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, volume 71, pages 277-283, 1998.