ArticlePloS one2012
Urinary benzene biomarkers and DNA methylation in Bulgarian petrochemical workers: study findings and comparison of linear and beta regression models.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 77 citations in OpenAlex.
- Telomere shortening in workers occupationally exposed to a wide range of mostly low benzene levels: a multicenter study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Genetic and epigenetic biomarkers in human biomonitoring: why needed and how can Oxford Nanopore sequencing contribute?Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
- Implications of petrochemical exposure and epigenetic alterations on human health.Frontiers in toxicology · 2025Review
- DNA Methylation as a Molecular Mechanism of Carcinogenesis in World Trade Center Dust Exposure: Insights from a Structured Literature Review.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Toxicomethylomics revisited: A state-of-the-science review about DNA methylation modifications in blood cells from workers exposed to toxic agents.Frontiers in public health · 2023Review
- Epigenome-wide association studies of occupational exposure to benzene and formaldehyde.Epigenetics · 2022Article
- Using Urinary Biomarkers to Estimate the Benzene Exposure Levels in Individuals Exposed to Benzene.Toxics · 2022Article
- Epigenetics underpins phenotypic plasticity of protandrous sex change in fish.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Detecting methylation quantitative trait loci using a methylation random field method.Briefings in bioinformatics · 2021Article
- Review
- Estimands in epigenome-wide association studies.Clinical epigenetics · 2021Article
- Opposing Epigenetic Signatures in Human Sperm by Intake of Fast Food Versus Healthy Food.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2021Article
- PARP1-DNMT1-CTCF complex and the apoptotic-induced factor mRNA expressions in workers occupationally exposed to benzene.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2020Article
- The Promises and Challenges of Toxico-Epigenomics: Environmental Chemicals and Their Impacts on the Epigenome.Environmental health perspectives · 2020Article
- Molecular and epigenetic markers as promising tools to quantify the effect of occupational exposures and the risk of developing non-communicable diseases.La Medicina del lavoro · 2019Article
- Benzene and leukemia: from scientific evidence to regulations. A historical example.La Medicina del lavoro · 2019Article
- Environmental Assessment and Evaluation of Oxidative Stress and Genotoxicity Biomarkers Related to Chronic Occupational Exposure to Benzene.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- The prevalence and persistence of aberrant promoter DNA methylation in benzene-exposed Chinese workers.PloS one · 2019Article
- Aberrant DNA Methylation of Two Tumor Suppressor Genes,The international journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2018Article
- Epigenetic and Transcriptional Modifications in Repetitive Elements in Petrol Station Workers Exposed to Benzene and MTBE.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Chronic occupational exposure to benzene is associated with an increased risk of hematological malignancies such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. The main objective of this study was to investigate the association between benzene exposure and DNA methylation, both in repeated elements and candidate genes, in a population of 158 Bulgarian petrochemical workers and 50 unexposed office workers. Exposure assessment included personal monitoring of airborne benzene at work and urinary biomarkers of benzene metabolism (S-phenylmercapturic acid [SPMA] and trans,trans-muconic acid [t,t-MA]) at the end of the work-shift. The median levels of airborne benzene, SPMA and t,t-MA in workers were 0.46 ppm, 15.5 µg/L and 711 µg/L respectively, and exposure levels were significantly lower in the controls. Repeated-element DNA methylation was measured in Alu and LINE-1, and gene-specific methylation in MAGE and p15. DNA methylation levels were not significantly different between exposed workers and controls (P>0.05). Both ordinary least squares (OLS) and beta-regression models were used to estimate benzene-methylation associations. Beta-regression showed better model specification, as reflected in improved coefficient of determination (pseudo R(2)) and Akaike's information criterion (AIC). In beta-regression, we found statistically significant reductions in LINE-1 (-0.15%, P<0.01) and p15 (-0.096%, P<0.01) mean methylation levels with each interquartile range (IQR) increase in SPMA. This study showed statistically significant but weak associations of LINE-1 and p15 hypomethylation with SPMA in Bulgarian petrochemical workers. We showed that beta-regression is more appropriate than OLS regression for fitting methylation data.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.