Jet Fuel and Aviation Worker Exposure (JP-8 Kerosene, Benzene, Naphthalene, Flight Line Workers, Dermal Absorption, USAF Occupational Studies) — outdoor safety profile

What is this product?

Military and civilian aviation workers handling jet fuel (JP-8/Jet A, kerosene-type fuel) face chronic occupational exposure to a complex hydrocarbon mixture containing benzene (0.02-0.5%), naphthalene (1-3%), and hundreds of other aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons. USAF occupational health studies have characterised these exposures by personal air monitoring: Merchant-Borna et al. (Ann Occup Hyg 2012;56(6):736-45) sampled 73 full-time USAF personnel over four consecutive workdays and found total hydrocarbons of 2.6 mg/m3 in the high-exposure group versus 0.5 mg/m3 in the low-exposure group (p < 0.0001), "with similar differences observed for other analytes in air" including benzene and naphthalene; Smith et al. (J Occup Environ Hyg 2010;7(10):563-72) characterised the same inhalation exposures across job categories. Blood-level differences are far smaller than the air differences and are not cleanly attributable to fuel: Maule et al. (J Occup Environ Med 2016;58(1):24-29) measured post-shift blood benzene at a geometric mean of 0.05 ug/L in personnel reporting JP-8 exposure versus 0.03 ug/L in those not — a contrast the authors never tested, having excluded benzene from their statistical analysis for low detection frequency, and one smaller than the same cohort's shift-smoking contrast (0.11 vs 0.02 ug/L). Mattie et al. (Toxics 2025;13(2):121), the only study with true unexposed controls, likewise found JP-8 flightline groups at 0.01-0.07 ng/mL against controls at 0.02-0.04 ng/mL. Dermal absorption is a real and often underappreciated additional pathway — JP-8 defats the skin barrier, and Chao et al. (Environ Health Perspect 2006;114(2):182-5) concluded that "dermal exposure to JP-8 significantly contributes to the systemic dose and affects the levels of urinary naphthalene metabolites". Its magnitude, however, is modest rather than dominant: PBTK modelling of this same worker population (Kim et al., Environ Health Perspect 2007;115(6):894-901) put the median relative contribution of dermal exposure to end-exhaled naphthalene at 4% (10th percentile 1%, 90th percentile 11%). Fuel tank entry operations represent the highest-exposure scenario — confined space with vapor concentrations of 50-300 ppm total hydrocarbons, requiring supplied-air respiratory protection and continuous atmosphere monitoring. The NIOSH REL for benzene is 0.1 ppm (10-hour TWA), while the OSHA PEL remains at 1 ppm (8-hour TWA) — NIOSH considers benzene a confirmed human carcinogen (leukemia) with no safe exposure threshold. A 2012 National Academies review of Gulf War illness included JP-8 exposure as a candidate causal factor for chronic multisymptom illness among veterans. Civilian aviation fuel handlers (airport tarmac workers) have similar exposure profiles but often less comprehensive occupational health monitoring than military counterparts.

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