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| Benzene Leukemia Lawsuits |
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Different Types of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) |
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Smoking, previous chemotherapy treatment, exposure to radiation and benzene exposure may affect the risk of developing adult Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML).
Possible risk factors for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) include the following:
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- Being male.
- Smoking, especially after age 60.
- Having had treatment with chemotherapy or radiation therapy in the past.
- Being exposed to the chemical benzene, usually in a work environment.
- Having had treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in the past.
- Being exposed to atomic bomb radiation.
- Having a history of a blood disorder such as myelodyspastic syndrome.
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Studies have found that the risk of leukemia increased with increasing benzene exposure; increased risk of death from leukemia was very high in the groups with the highest exposure (IPCS 1993). Savitz and Andrews (1997) reviewed 18 community-based and 16 industry- based studies of benzene exposure and suggested that the evidence supported an association between benzene exposure and leukemia in
general, rather than specifically with acute myelogenous leukemia. Most studies found that benzene exposure increased the risks of total lymphatic and hematopoietic cancer (i.e., cancers of the lymphatic system and of organs and tissues involved in production of blood), total leukemia, and specific histologic types of leukemia, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia, as well as acute myelogenous leukemia.
A number of recent studies and reviews of leukemia and its relationship to Benzene exposure have been published. Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, concluded that benzene was linked to many forms of leukemia including acute myelogenous leukemia AML as well as acute and chronic lymphocytic and myeloid leukemia (Savitz, D., and Andrews, K.,"Review of Epidemiologic Evidence on Benzene and Lymphatic and Hematopoietic Cancers," Amer. J. Industrial Health 31:287-295 (1997).
However, Benzene has a long history in the medical literature. As early as the 1920s, Benzene was linked to leukemia in a published study. The American Petroleum Institute noted in the 1940s benzene caused leukemia noted that any level of exposure to benzene posed risks. A major epidemiologic study of benzene of exposed workers demonstrated the risks of leukemia appeared in 1977.
The scientific studies indicate workers who use solvents are at risk of developing cancer and blood diseases from exposure to benzene. |
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1.888.604.3438 |
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