{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,19]],"date-time":"2026-03-19T02:32:28Z","timestamp":1773887548631,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,4]],"date-time":"2023-12-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1701648000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Korea University Graduate School","award":["K2225801"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["K2225801"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Toxics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The aim of this study was to investigate the association between benzene and toluene, and the ratio of triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG\/HDL-C). This cross-sectional study analyzed 1928 adults using nationally representative data from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS) Cycle 4 (2018\u20132020). Urinary trans, trans-muconic acid (t,t-MA) and benzylmercapturic acid (BMA) were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography\u2013mass spectrometry (HPLC\u2013MS\/MS), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides (TGs) were analyzed by colorimetry. Survey logistic regression analysis was applied to examine the association between urinary t,t-MA and BMA and the TG\/HDL-C ratio. Urinary t,t-MA is significantly associated with an elevated TG\/HDL-C ratio in both men and women (for men, OR [95% (CI)]: 2nd quartile: 2.10 [1.04, 4.22]; 3rd quartile: 2.13 [0.98, 4.62]; 4th quartile: 2.39 [1.05, 5.45]; for women, OR [95% (CI)]: 2nd quartile: 1.21 [0.71, 2.06]; 3rd quartile: 1.65 [0.94, 2.90]; 4th quartile: 1.78 [1.01, 3.11]), with significant dose\u2013response relationships (P for trend: for men, 0.029; women, 0.024). This study shows that environmental exposure to benzene is associated with the TG\/HDL-C ratio in the Korean general population. This suggests that more stringent environmental health policies are needed to reduce benzene exposure.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/toxics11120985","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,4]],"date-time":"2023-12-04T05:28:21Z","timestamp":1701667701000},"page":"985","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Association of Urinary Benzene Metabolite and the Ratio of Triglycerides to High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol: A Cross-Sectional Study Using the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (2018\u20132020)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Seungju","family":"Baek","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Korea University Graduate School, Seoul 02814, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3586-5800","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eunjung","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cancer Control and Population Health, National Cancer Center, Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy, Goyang 10408, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eun Young","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Korea University Graduate School, Seoul 02814, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Department of Preventive Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 02814, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ASTDR) (2007). 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