Benzene Caused Cancer Case 1980

This clip shows a worker with leukemia from benzene exposure on the job. It is from the 1980 film, OSHA. The entire film is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1N48Z5HerA . Benzene exposure has serious health effects. The short term breathing of high levels of benzene can result in death, while low levels can cause drowsiness, dizziness, rapid heart rate, headaches, tremors, confusion, and unconsciousness. The major effects of benzene are chronic (long-term) exposure through the blood. Benzene damages the bone marrow and can cause a decrease in red blood cells, leading to anemia. Benzene causes leukemia and is associated with other blood cancers and pre-cancers of the blood. Benzene was first reported to induce cancer in humans in the 1920s. The chemical industry claims it wasn't until 1979 that the cancer inducing properties were determined "conclusively" in humans, despite many references to this fact in the medical literarure. Industry exploited this "discrepancy" and tried to discredit animal studies which showed benzene caused cancer saying that they weren't relevant to humans. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a permissible exposure limit of 0.5 part of benzene per million parts of air (.5 ppm) in the workplace during an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek. Workers in various industries that make or use benzene may be at risk for being exposed to high levels of this carcinogenic chemical. Industries that involve the use of benzene include the rubber industry, oil refineries, chemical plants, shoe manufacturers, and gasoline related industries.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• benzene
• OSHA
• NIOSH
• industrial
• hygiene
• leukemia
• hazwoper
• health
• occupational
• medicine
• laboratory
• gasoline
• worker
• memorial
• day
• earth

[kal9784]

My brother Kevin died in 1972 from Lukemia, I have always said it was bad water (water from the garden hose) abandoned gas stations, not dug up and handled right. Prineville Oregon 97754

[californiaspinnaker]

XYLENE IS USED IN SHELLS FOR SILICONE IMPLANTS, MENTOR IS MY FORMER EMPLOYER, MENTOR CORP> MAKES SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS THAT CAUSE CANCER, LUPUS ACCORDING TO FDA !!!

my name is Bryan

[FatalMissEllen]

@GGEWEaolcom I am sorry to hear that. This is a very inspiring video to me. I think it is good that George his voice is being heard by others, so that we can learn from the mistakes we did in the past.

xxx ellen

[FireMaestro]

I wonder when the cellphones will have their tumor inducing properties "conclusively" determined.

[GGEWEaolcom]

I worked with him and he was a friend of mine. He died in the early 80's of his cancer

[fireforge1979]

@L5Luver I would like to say that he is alive, but the sad fact is that he probably past away from this disease :(

[L5Luver]

Does anybody know what happened to George Zerwas? Did he die from the leukemia or is he still alive?

[joshhardwick81]

yes- in very small amounts.

[rockygreenmountains]

does oil contain benzene?