SIRC-Supported Research

Styrene is the base material for thousands of everyday products for home, school, work and play. Styrene is used to make food containers and packaging materials, cars, boats, computers and video games among countless products. Styrene helps create remarkably strong, flexible and lightweight products that represent a vital part of our economy and quality of life.

Although styrene occurs naturally in foods such as cinnamon, coffee and strawberries, styrene derived from petroleum and natural gas by-products is so widely used that questions have arisen about whether manufacturing styrene and styrenic products or using styrene-based consumer goods have the potential to affect human health or the environment. In 1987, styrene manufacturers established the Styrene Information and Research Center (SIRC) to find answers to those questions.

Since its inception, SIRC has pursued a comprehensive research program to better understand the potential, if any, for styrene to affect human health, as well as to understand the fate and effects of styrene in the environment. SIRC's approach has been - and continues to be -- to sponsor new research in areas where deficiencies and limitations in the existing data have led to less-than-definitive conclusions. SIRC also commissions independent reviews of existing health effects studies. Scientific research and literature reviews underwritten by SIRC are done with the intention that final reports will be published in appropriate peer-reviewed journals. Many of the research reports that are published in peer-reviewed journals then appear in SIRC's own technical journal, The SIRC Review, which is published about once a year.

SIRC has worked closely over the years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP) in developing protocols for research it has sponsored.

The total cost of SIRC-sponsored research exceeds $14 million. SIRC's commitment to science has produced a credible, reliable — and still growing - information resource for regulatory decision-making. The science that SIRC has sponsored has followed a well-defined, orderly program to ensure that each research project builds on findings from past studies - starting with an understanding of styrene's environmental fate and leading through various steps to human risk assessment using the wealth of data developed since the research program's inception in 1988.

Following is the table of contents of the Summary of Scientific Research Supported by SIRC. Each section contains summaries of the key published research (and research that has been accepted for publication) that SIRC has sponsored to better understand styrene's potential human health and environmental effects. To download the Summary of Scientific Research Supported by SIRC, you will need the Adobe® Acrobat® Reader, a free plug-in available from Adobe Systems.

Click here to download the Summary of Scientific Research Suppported by SIRC.

A Continuing Commitment to Science and Stewardship:
Summary of Scientific Research Supported by The Styrene Information and Research Center

Section A — Styrene Fate and Natural Occurrence

1. Biodegradation of Styrene in Samples of Natural Environments, 1992
2. Desorption and Biodegradation of Sorbed Styrene in Soil and Aquifer Solids, 1994
3. The Determination of Styrene in Selected Foods, 1994
4. Biodegradation of Styrene in Waterlogged Soils and Aquifer Solids, 1996
5. Ecotoxicity Hazard Assessment of Styrene, 1997
6. The Environmental Fate of Styrene, 1997

   Section B — Health Effects Studies in Styrene-exposed Workers

7. An Updated Cohort Mortality Study of Workers Exposed to Styrene in the Reinforced Plastics and Composites Industry,1994
8. Mortality from Nonmalignant Diseases of the Respiratory, Genitourinary and Nervous Systems Among Workers Exposed to Styrene in the Reinforced Plastics and Composites Industry, 1999
9. Styrene Exposure and Color Vision, 1997
10. Olfactory Function in Workers Exposed to Styrene in the Reinforced-Plastics Industry, 2003
11. Exposure Assessment for Study of Olfactory Function in Workers Exposed to Styrene in the Reinforced-Plastics Industry, 2003

    Section C — Styrene Toxicity, Metabolism and Mode of Action

12. Review of the Metabolic Fate of Styrene, 1994
13. Correlating Styrene Metabolism and Distribution with Hepatotoxicity, 1995
14. Cell Proliferation in Rat Forestomach Following Oral Administration of Styrene Oxide, 1996
15. Pneumotoxicity and Hepatotoxicity of Styrene and Styrene Oxide, 1996
16. Subchronic Inhalation Studies of Styrene in CD Rats and CD-1 Mice, 1997
17. Evaluation of the metabolism and hepatotoxicity of styrene in F344 rats, B6C3F1 mice, and CD-1 mice following single and repeated inhalation Exposures, 1997
18. Comparison of Mouse Strains for Susceptibility to Styrene-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Pneumotoxicity, 1997
19. Effects of Inducers and Inhibitors on the Microsomal Metabolism of Styrene to Styrene Oxide in Mice, 1997
20. Chronic Toxicity/Oncogenicity Study of Styrene in CD Rats by Inhalation Exposure for 104 Weeks, 1998
21. Effects of inhibitors of CYP1A and CYP2B on styrene metabolism in mouse liver and lung microsomes, 1998
22. Metabolism of Styrene by Mouse and Rat Isolated Lung Cells,1999
23. Styrene Oxide in Blood, Hemoglobin Adducts, and Urinary Metabolites in Human Volunteers Exposed to C8-Styrene Vapors, 2000
24. Metabolism of Styrene by Human Liver and Lung, 2000
25. Uptake of Styrene in the Upper Respiratory Tract of the CD Mouse and Sprague-Dawley Rat, 2000
26. Quantification of DNA Adducts Formed in Liver, Lungs, and Isolated Lung Cells of Rats and Mice Exposed to C-14-Styrene by Nose-only Inhalation, 2000
27. Chronic Toxicity/Oncogenicity Study of Styrene in CD-1 Mice by Inhalation Exposure for 104 Weeks, 2001
28. Styrene Metabolism in Rats, Mice, and Humans, 2001
29. The role of cytochromes P-450 in styrene induced pulmonary toxicity and carcinogenicity, 2001
30. The toxicity of styrene to the nasal epithelium of mice and rats: studies on the mode of action and relevance to humans, 2001
31. Comparing Respiratory-Tract and Hepatic Exposure-Dose Relationships for Metabolized Inhaled Vapors: A Pharmacokinetic Analysis, 2002
32. Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling of Styrene and Styrene Oxide Respiratory-Tract Dosimetry in Rodents and Humans, 2002
33. Styrene Respiratory Tract Toxicity and Mouse Lung Tumors Are Mediated by CYP2F-Generated Metabolites, 2002
34. 4-Vinylphenol-Induced Pneumotoxicity and Hepatotoxicity in Mice, 2002
35. Effect of the inhibition of the metabolism of 4-vinylphenol on its hepatotoxicity and pneumotoxicity in rats and mice, 2002
36. In Vitro Metabolism of Styrene to Styrene Oxide in Liver and Lung of CYP2E1 Knockout Mice, 2003
37. Metabolism and Toxicity of the Styrene Metabolite 4-Vinylphenol in CYP2E1 Knockout Mice, 2004
38. Influence of Selected Inhibitors on the Metabolism of the Styrene Metabolite 4-Vinylphenol in Wild-Type and CYP2E1 Knockout Mice, 2004
39. Comparison of the Susceptibility of Wild-type and CYP2E1 Knockout Mice to the Hepatotoxic and Pneumotoxic Effects of Styrene and Styrene Oxide, 2004
40. Ring-Oxidized Metabolites of Styrene Contribute to Styrene-Induced Clara-Cell Toxicity in Mice
41. Comparison of the depletion of glutathione in mouse liver and lung following adminisitration of styrene and its metabolites styrene oxide and 4-vinylphenol
42. Two Generation Reproduction Study of Styrene by Inhalation in Crl-CD Rats
43. Developmental Neurotoxicity Study of Styrene by Inhalation in Crl-CD Rats

    Section D — Assessing Styrene's Risk to the General Population

44. A Critical Review of the Reproductive and Developmental Data on Styrene, 1990
45. The Neuroepidemiology of Styrene: A Critical Review of Representative Literature, 1994
46. A Review of the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity of Styrene, 2000
47. A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Potential Health Risks Associated with Occupational and Environmental Exposure to Styrene, 2002