Benzene Exposure: Warning Signs of Leukemia

Benzene is one of the most widely used chemicals in the United States. It is used to make plastics, resins, and synthetic fibers, photographic chemicals, rubber, dyes, lubricants, explosives, adhesives, paints, coatings, detergents, drugs and pesticides. What most people don’t know is that benzene exposure is a warning sign of leukemia, a deadly form of cancer.

Benzene is a recognized carcinogen that poses severe health warnings to workers and others who are exposed to it. There is a scientifically-proven link between benzene and leukemia; in fact benzene is a recognized cause of leukemia and other blood cancers, including multiple myeloma, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and aplastic anemia. Benzene has also been associated with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), which can be potentially deadly and Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), which truncates one’s stem cells and kills healthy white blood cells.

You can be exposed to benzene from inhalation or absorption of the toxin through the skin. Workers in the petroleum and printing industries, wood cutters, and gas attendants are especially susceptible to benzene exposure and its risks. Exposure, even for short periods of time, can be a life threatening warning sign of leukemia.

There is a latency period associated with the effects of benzene exposure. It can take anywhere from 7 to 40 years from the first exposure for the effects to show. A person who has been exposed to benzene and develops leukemia or other diseases of the blood may have the right to monetary compensation.

For more information on benzene exposure or the warning signs of leukemia, call Levy Phillips & Konigsberg at 212.605.6200 or submit an email inquiry (see form above).