Dear Dr. Kim,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Jin Su Kim, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments:

Please ensure that the reviewers’ requests are addressed thoroughly

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: The study is strong because it combines air monitoring, urine biomarkers, and dermal exposure, giving a complete picture of how workers are exposed. The sample size is good, the methods are solid, and the results clearly show that higher exposure is linked with more symptoms.

Points to improve:

The study is cross-sectional, so you can only say styrene exposure is “associated with” symptoms, not that it directly “causes” them.

The study does not include information on the use of personal protective equipment (like respirators), which is important for interpreting exposure. Please highlight this more clearly as a limitation.

Smoking was considered, but more detail on how it was measured would improve the paper.

The study was done in one factory and only on male workers, so the findings may not apply to all workers. This should be explained in the discussion.

Dermal exposure was measured but not fully included in the final model. Please explain this more clearly.

The proposed new biomarker action level (0.38 mg/g creatinine) is interesting, but explain how it compares to the current ACGIH limit and what it would mean in practice.

Reviewer #2: 1. The paper stated single point measurement of styrene absorption on a narrow range of workers in terms of age, BMI, etc which results in an acute health risk for the workers. But in order to conclude the health impact to the same workers the measurements must be done repeatedly over a period of time. The workers are exposed to styrene before the day of the study and we assume that previous exposure could have affected absorption on the day of the study. this should be considered to make an accurate assessment.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Occupational Exposure to Styrene and Acute Health Effects among Fiberglass-Reinforced Plastic Workers: An Integrated Environmental and Biological Monitoring Study

PONE-D-25-46598R1

Dear Dr. %KIM%,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Jin Su Kim, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE