Based on a working document reviewing benzene toxicity data prepared by the national Institute of Public Health and Environmental Hygiene of The Netherlands a committee of the health Council of The Netherlands prepared a report regarding a health risk assessment of benzene in ambient air. A short review of the available data on the health effects of benzene is presented. Two risk evaluations based on epidemiological studies of humans exposed to benzene are presented and incorporated in the overall risk assessment. Together with these evaluations and the fact that there is no strong evidence for the existence of a stochastic working mechanism of action the committee advised to increase the result of the risk assessment presented by the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Hygiene of The Netherlands by two orders of magnitude.