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Myelogenous Leukemia
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| What is Benzene? » Benzene is a colorless liquid with a sweet odor. It evaporates into the air very quickly and dissolves slightly in water. It is highly flammable and is formed from both natural processes and human activities. 
Benzene ranks in the top 20 chemicals for production volume in the U.S. The chemical benzene is used widely in the U.S. as a building block for plastics, rubber, resins, and synthetic fabrics, a well as solvent in printing, paints, dry cleaning, and a variety of other things. Natural sources of benzene include volcanoes and forest fires. Benzene is also a natural part of crude oil, gasoline, and cigarette smoke.
OSHA - The legal airborne permissible exposure limit is 1 ppm averaged over an 8-hour work shift and 5 ppm not to be exceeded during any 15- minute work period. NIOSH - The recommended airborne exposure limitis 0.1 ppm averaged over a 10-hour work shift and 1 ppm not to be exceeded during any 15- minute work period. ACGIH - The recommended airborne exposure limit is 0.5 ppm averaged over an 8-hour work shift and 2.5 ppm as a short-term exposure limit. Reporting Benzene Related Problems OSHA rules require employers to report any death that is possibly work related as well as any accident causing three or more workers to be admitted to a hospital. The chief of OSHA's Division of Record Keeping Requirements says that the agency expects that the employers will "err on the side of reporting" if a death is even questionable. But companies are often reluctant to report anything less than the most severe fatal accidents because of investigations, lawsuits, and negative publicity. Work related deaths in 1984 were estimated to range from 3,740 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics to 11,700 according to the National Safety Council. Controversy has surrounded various of unreported work-related deaths, including a case of aplastic anemia that resulted in death that was not reported despite the employees exposure to benzene, a human carcinogen shown to cause aplastic anemia. The former employee had worked as an operator on the docks of a refinery helping to load and unload benzene containing products for twenty years. The connection between aplastic anemia and benzene is identified in many different pieces of medical literature. Benzene lawsuits alleging various companies that work with benzene containing products have known about the dangers benzene poses to workers yet fail to properly warn the people exposed to the carcinogen. Serious, life-threatening conditions have been connected with benzene exposure and you may be eligible to receive a large compensation for the resulting conditions. If you would like more information regarding exposure to benzene
in the workplace, please Currently, OSHA standards have set a permissible exposure limit of 1ppm in the workplace during an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek. click here to read more! How to Work With Benzene Safely Any benzene that is released should be immediately reported and a respirator should be put on and evacuate the area. click here to read more! Benzene has been shown to cause rare forms of leukemia, including
acute myelogenous leukemia, acute lympohcytic leukemia, and chronic
myelogenous leukemia. Sources of Exposure to Benzene Benzene inhalation is the most common exposure to benzene, though it can also be absorbed through the skin. click here to read more! |
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