EXPOSURE TO REGULAR GASOLINE AND ETHANOL OXYFUEL DURING REFUELING IN ALASKA

Although most people are thought to receive their highest acute exposu res to gasoline while refueling, relatively little is actually known a bout personal, personal, nonoccupational exposures to gasoline during refueling activities. This study was designed to measure exposures ass ociated with the use of an oxygenated fuel under cold conditions in Fa irbanks, Alaska. We compared concentrations of gasoline components in the blood and in the personal breathing zone (PBZ) of people who pumpe d regular unleaded gasoline (referred to as regular gasoline) with con centrations in the blood of those who pumped an oxygenated fuel that 1 0% ethanol (E-10). A subset of participants ipants in a wintertime eng ine performance study provided blood samples before and after pumping gasoline (30 using regular gasoline and 30 using E-10). The biological and environmental samples were analyzed for selected aromatic volatil e organic compounds (VOCs) found in gasoline (benzene, ethylbenzene, t oluene, m-l p-xylene and o-xylene); the biological samples were also a nalyzed for three chemicals not found in gasoline (1,4-dichlorobenzene , chloroform, and styrene). People in our study had significantly high er levels of gasoline components in their blood after pumping gasoline than they had before pumping gasoline. The changes in VOC levels in b lood were similar whether the individuals pumped regular gasoline or t he E-10 blend. The analysis of PBZ samples indicated that there were a lso measurable levels of gasoline components in the air during refueli ng. The VOC levels in PBZ were similar for the two groups. In this stu dy, we demonstrate that people are briefly exposed to low (ppm and sub -ppm) levels of known carcinogens and other potentially toxic compound s while pumping gasoline, regardless of the type of gasoline used.