Abstract

AUGUSTO, Lia Giraldo da Silva  and  NOVAES, Tereza Carlota Pires. Social and medical intervention in the case of benzene poisoning in Cubatão, São Paulo: an interdisciplinary approach. Cad. Saúde Pública [online]. 1999, vol.15, n.4, pp. 729-738. ISSN 0102-311X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X1999000400007.

Work-related health problems demand a multidisciplinary approach in which each discipline contributes its own techniques and methods, while based on a common theoretical and conceptual frame of reference. Research and intervention are based on interdependent relations between social, productive, and environmental factors. Based on experience with benzene poisoning, this review shows how the issue can be approached globally, by integrating different disciplinary processes from epidemiological and clinical research. Blood parameters altered by human exposure to benzene were studied from the perspective of hematology, integrated with the epidemiological surveillance system used as an instrument for health intervention using an interdisciplinary approach in which workers and trade unions participated throughout the program.

Keywords : Benzene; Occupational Exposure; Occupational Health; Social Medicine; Hematology.