The symposium overview describes the recent succession of scientific meetings to further understand the adverse effects of benzene. It reviews the epidemiological evidence for hematological changes including leukemias and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, the progress in molecular biology and mechanism of action as well as ongoing studies in these fields. Various national occupational and community exposure monitoring data show that there has been significant progress in reducing benzene exposures globally. Biomarkers and biomonitoring have been used to provide information on biological plausibility, mode of action and susceptibility, and in the discrimination of co-exposures. Current research should help to further clarify cell type specificity, relationship to exposure, and the molecular elements involved in mechanism.