Butadiene is produced through the processing of petroleum and is mainly used in the production of synthetic rubber, but is also found in smaller amounts in plastics and fuel. Exposure to butadiene mainly occurs in the workplace, including the following industries: synthetic elastomer (rubber and latex) production, petroleum refining, secondary lead smelting, water treatment, agricultural fungicides, production of raw material for nylon, and the use of fossil fuels. Exposure can also occur from automobile exhaust; polluted air and water near chemical, plastic or rubber facilities; cigarette smoke; and ingestion of foods that are contaminated from plastic or rubber containers.

The health effects caused by exposure to butadiene can be split into two categories: acute and chronic. Acute exposures can further be split into low and high doses. Acute low exposures may cause irritation to the eyes, throat, nose, and lungs. Frostbite may also occur with skin exposure. Acute high exposures may cause damage to the central nervous system or cause symptoms such as distorted blurred vision, vertigo, general tiredness, decreased blood pressure, headache, nausea, decreased pulse rate, and fainting. Chronic effects caused by exposure to butadiene are controversial. Several human epidemiological studies have shown an increase in cardiovascular diseases and cancer. However, due to the small numbers of cancers and confounding factors such as smoking, and simultaneous exposure to benzene and styrene, a true causal relationship cannot be established. Experiments involving chronic exposures to mice and rats have shown a strong causal relationship between butadiene exposure and cancer. Animal studies have also shown reproductive and developmental problems. Based on human and animal studies, the EPA has classified butadiene as a known human carcinogen. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has given butadiene a rating of A2, suspected human carcinogen.

There are several ways to reduce exposure to butadiene. The preferred approach is to utilize engineering controls such as ventilation and process modification. If these controls are not sufficient other controls may be implemented, including requiring respirator protection where ventilation is not feasible, requiring workers to shower and change into street clothes before leaving the plant, and issuing workers protective eye glasses and splash shields as needed.
Butadiene is a gas under normal environmental conditions. In the workplace, the most significant route of exposure to butadiene is inhalation during its production and use. Potential exposures to butadiene are likely to be limited to the industrial setting as the residual butadiene monomer content in consumer products is low and unlikely to pose a significant health threat to the general public. Butadiene is also produced during the combustion of organic matter. Significant amounts of butadiene are released to the environment from both natural and anthropogenic sources such as forest fires, gasoline and diesel engine exhaust, and wood space heating. It is also a component of cigarette smoke.

Butadiene (BD) is used in the production of styrene-butadiene rubber and other synthetic elastomers. A series of related papers of studies of a large US cohort show it to be positively associated with leukaemia. Cumulative exposure was associated positively with a dose–response for all leukaemias combined. There were also associations (but to a lesser extent) with CML and CLL. Associations were also seen after controlling for other exposures, and the association was considered especially clear at exposures above 100 ppm experienced in the most highly exposed jobs and among workers employed in the arly years and for more than ten years. A meta-analysis of the styrene butadiene rubber industry gave a pooled estimate of 1.31 for mortality and 1.16 for incidence. No increase was found for workers exclusively manufacturing tyres or tyres and other goods, but was reported for those exclusively making other goods.