People can be exposed to bitumen in the workplace by breathing in fumes or skin absorption. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a recommended exposure limit of 5 mg/m over a 15-minute period.
Bitumen is basically an inert material that must be heated or diluted to a point where it becomes workable for the production of materials for paving, roofing, and other applications. In examining the potential health hazards associated with bitumen, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) determined that it is the application parameters, predominantly temperature, that affect occupational exposure and the potential bioavailable carcinogenic hazard/risk of the bitumen emissions. In particular, temperatures greater than 199 °C (390 °F), were shown to produce a greater exposure risk than when bitumen was heated to lower temperatures, such as those typically used in asphalt pavement mix production and placement. IARC has classified paving asphalt fumes as a Class 2B possible carcinogen, indicating inadequate evidence of carcinogenicity in humans.
In 2020, scientists reported that bitumen currently is a significant and largely overlooked source of air pollution in urban areas, especially during hot and sunny periods.
A bitumen-like substance found in the Himalayas and known as shilajit is sometimes used as an Ayurveda medicine, but is not in fact a tar, resin or bitumen.