Benzene Leukemia Resource |
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Benzene
Leukemia
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or someone you know has been exposed to Benzene, click here for more information on your legal rights regarding Benzene Leukemia. |
Benzene FAQ's
What is benzene?
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. Benzene
is a clear, colorless aromatic liquid that is highly flammable. Benzene
is highly flammable and evaporates into air very quickly and dissolves
in water slightly.
Does benzene cause cancer?
The Department of Health and Human Services determined benzene is a known
human carcinogen. Exposure to high levels of benzene has been associated
to cases of leukemia cancer, including
What is a carcinogen?
A carcinogen is a substance with the ability to cause cancer. There may
be no safe level of exposure to a carcinogen so all contact should be
completely avoided. Benzene has been identified as a human carcinogen.
Why is benzene regulated?
Benzene is regulated because of the dangerous health effects that
benzene poisoning is known to cause. Congress passed the Safe Drinking
Water Act in 1974 requiring the EPA to determine safe levels of chemicals
in drinking water. Benzenes level has been set to zero. The EPA
calls these levels Maximum Contaminant Level Goals and the EPA set a standard
called Maximum Contaminant Levels based on that. It is EPA required that
spills or accidental releases of 10 pounds or more of benzene be reported.
The maximum amount of benzene allowed in drinking water is set at 0.005
milligrams per liter. OSHA has set a permissible exposure limit of 1 part
of benzene per million parts of air in the workplace during an 8-hour
workday in a 40-hour workweek.
What health problems does benzene cause?
Even a small amount of benzene exposure can cause temporary nervous system
disorders, immune system depression, and anemia. High levels of benzene
can result in:
Is benzene still a risk?
Workers are continually exposed to direct and indirect sources of the
chemical, despite benzene being banned as a solvent in the U.S. for over
twenty years,
How much benzene is produced and released into the environment?
The majority of benzene releases were from petroleum refining industries.
Benzene is mainly released into the air from gasoline fumes and exhaust.
The Toxics Release Inventory identified that over 2 million pounds of
benzene to water and land was released from 1987-1992.
When benzene is released into the environment what happens?
Benzene released to soil will evaporate very quickly or leach to groundwater.
Some soil microbes can break down benzene, and some ground waters can
degrade benzene. Benzene released to surface water usually evaporates
within a few hours.
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