BENZENE POISONING

Why Should You Care?Benzene is a natural constituent of crude oil, and is one of the most common and basic petrochemicals. Benzene is a colorless and highly flammable liquid with a sweet smell. It is a known carcinogen, and it is used in gasoline, drugs, plastics, synthetic rubber, and dyes.

Gasoline and cigarette smoke are two of the main sources of human exposure to benzene. People are exposed to benzene from both active and passive second hand smoke. Increased levels of benzene can also be found at fueling stations, and in air emissions from manufacturing plants and hazardous waste sites. Living near gasoline fueling stations or hazardous waste sites may increase exposure to benzene.

Benzene toxicity may present as an acute illness or as a chronic disease. There is a latency period associated with the effects of benzene exposure ranging from 7 to 40 years from the first exposure for the effects to show.

Long-term exposure to benzene can cause cancer of the blood-forming organs or bone marrow. This condition is called leukemia. Benzene has been linked to the following cancers and Leukemias;

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• Acute or Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (AML/CML)• Acute or Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL/CLL)• Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)• Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL)• Non-Hodgkin's Leukemia (NHL)• Multiple Myeloma• Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS)

If you or your family have worked in ANY of the following Industries; You were most likely exposed to benzene:

• Detergent Production• Pesticides Production• Gasoline Production• Solvent Production• Paint & Varnish Production• Adhesives Production• Rubber Processing• Petroleum Processing• Waste Management• Laboratory Technician• Auto Mechanic• Degreasing Operations• Hauling and Tank Cleaning Operations

These industries also include benzene production (petrochemicals, petroleum refining, and coke and coal chemical manufacturing), rubber tire manufacturing, and storage or transport of benzene and petroleum products containing benzene. Other workers who may be exposed to benzene include coke oven workers in the steel industry, printers, rubber workers, shoe makers, laboratory technicians, firefighters, and gas station employees.

Individuals employed in industries that make or use benzene may be exposed to the highest levels of benzene. As many as 238,000 people may be occupationally exposed to benzene in the United States.

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Among workers who have been exposed to atmospheric concentrations of benzene in excess of 300 ppm for at least 1 year, as many as 20% will acquire anemia. The specific forms of anemia involve a reduction in the number of red and white blood cells, as well as platelets or a condition where bone marrow does not produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells known as aplastic anemia.

Chronic high-level benzene exposure is an established cause of acute myeloid leukemia after an average delay of about 12 years. In the United States there are approximately 24,000 new cases of leukemia a year, which represent about 3% of all malignancies. AML and it variants account for 46% of all leukemias. In adults, AML constitutes almost 90% of all acute leukemias."

Leakage from underground gasoline storage tanks or from landfills and hazardous waste sites that contain benzene can result in benzene contamination of well water. People with benzene-contaminated tap water can be exposed from drinking the water or eating foods prepared with the water. In addition, exposure can result from breathing in benzene while showering, bathing, or cooking with contaminated water.

A person who has been exposed to benzene and develops leukemia or other diseases of the blood may have the right to monetary compensation.

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Proven and Probable Carcinogens

The Department of Health and Human Services has determined that benzene is a known carcinogen (can cause cancer). Both the International Agency for Cancer Research and the EPA have determined that benzene is carcinogenic to humans.

Benzene causes cancer and other illnesses. Benzene is a "notorious cause" of bone marrow failure. "Vast quantities of epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory data" link benzene to aplastic anemia, acute leukemia, and bone marrow abnormalities

Benzene has been connected to a rare form of kidney cancer in two separate studies, one involving tank truck drivers, and the other involving seamen on tanker vessels, both carrying benzene-laden chemicals.

According to the National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment for 2005 Fact Sheet, for the 187 pollutants identified as air toxics, , the key pollutants that contribute most to the overall cancer risks Nationwide are formaldehyde and benzene.

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Sources, Occurrence

Exposure of the general population to benzene mainly occurs through breathing, the major sources of benzene being tobacco smoke (about 50%) as well as automobile service stations, exhaust from motor vehicles and industrial emissions (about 20% altogether). Vapors (or gases) from products that contain benzene, such as glues, paints, furniture wax, and detergents, can also be a source of exposure.

Water and soil contamination are important pathways of concern for transmission of benzene contact. In the US alone, there are approximately 100,000 different sites that have benzene soil or groundwater contamination. These include 751 Superfund National Priority List (NPL) Sites and 742 Toxic Release Inventory

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(TRI) Sites. The EPA has set a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for benzene in drinking water at 0.005 mg/L (5 parts per billion).

Benzene was historically used as a significant component in many consumer products such as Liquid Wrench, several paint strippers, rubber cements, spot removers and other petroleum products. Today, benzene is used mainly as an intermediate to make other chemicals including styrene 50% (used to make polymers and plastics), phenol 20% (for resins and adhesives) and cyclohexane 15%, (used in the manufacture of Nylon.) Smaller amounts of benzene are used to make some types of rubbers, lubricants, dyes, detergents, drugs, explosives, napalm, and pesticides.

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Pollution History

Until the late 1970s, many hardware stores, paint stores, and other retail outlets sold benzene in small cans, such as quart size, for general-purpose use. Many students were exposed to benzene in school and university courses while performing laboratory experiments with little or no ventilation in many cases. This very dangerous practice has been almost totally eliminated.

As a gasoline additive, benzene increases the octane rating and reduces knocking. As a consequence, gasoline often contained several percent benzene before the 1950s, when tetraethyl lead replaced it as the most widely-used antiknock additive. In the United States, concern over its negative health effects and the possibility of benzene's entering the groundwater have led to stringent regulation of gasoline's benzene content, with limits typically around 1%. The EPA has new regulations that will lower the benzene content in gasoline to 0.62% in 2011.

Acceptable air tolerance levels have been steadily decreasing due to newer health studies showing greater health impacts from Benzene. This means that the legal levels which workers were exposed to that were once considered safe, no longer are thought to have a margin of safety. Furthermore, people living in surrounding communities were possibly exposed to historical levels of Benzene 24 hrs. a day which are no longer considered safe for workers.Researchers assumed that the levels of benzene as measured by the 8 h time-weighted average (TWA) exposure of the workers were close to recommended standards for specific years as follows: 100 ppm (1941), 50 ppm 8 h TWA (1947), 35 ppm 8 h TWA (1948), 25 ppm 8 h TWA (1957 and 1963), 10 ppm TWA (1969) and 1ppm from 1987 to present day. The risk from exposure to 1 ppm for a working lifetime has been estimated as 5 excess leukemia deaths per 1,000 employees exposed

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Chart Showing Current Benzene Permissible Limits in Air

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Benzene in Soft Drinks

In the summer of 1998, a number of well-known soft drinks manufacturers had to withdraw large quantities of their products from sale after benzene contamination in some production plants was discovered. This followed a 1990, study which found unsafe levels of benzene in bottles of Perrier for sale in the United States. Research showed how benzene can form from benzoic acid (a common preservative) in the presence of vitamin C. Benzoic acid is often added to drinks as a preservative in form of its salts sodium benzoate potassium benzoate or calcium benzoate.

Other factors that affect the formation of benzene are heat and light. Storing soft drinks in warm conditions speeds up the formation of benzene.

The FDA released preliminary results in May 2006 for 100 beverages showing that many soft drinks contained low levels of benzene (less than 5 ppb the federal drinking water limit) while four drinks contained amounts above the standard. Two of these drinks contained amounts 15-18 times above the drinking water standard. Many of the products showed large variations in the amount benzene they contained. The FDA stated that it is working with manufacturers to reformulate products that contain benzene above the federal drinking water standard.

In 2008, Coca-Cola announced that it would be phasing out sodium benzoate from many of its drinks

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Symptoms

Acute Immediate signs and symptoms of the inhalation of benzene include drowsiness, dizziness, rapid or irregular heartbeat, headaches, tremors, confusion, unconsciousness, and even death at very high levels. On the other hand,

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ingestion of food contaminated with benzene may manifest as vomiting, irritation of the stomach, and convulsions in addition to those caused by inhalation

ChronicSome common symptoms of chronic benzene poisoning are: tiredness, weight loss, headaches, heart attack, excessive bruising, vomiting, loss of consciousness, tremors, convulsions, bone or joint pain, infection and fever, an enlarged spleen, lymph nodes and liver, as well as other symptoms.

Benzene causes problems in the blood. People who breathe benzene for long periods may experience harmful effects in the tissues that form blood cells, especially the bone marrow. These effects can disrupt normal blood production and cause a decrease in important blood components. A decrease in red blood cells can lead to anemia. Reduction in other components in the blood can cause excessive bleeding. Blood production may return to normal after exposure to benzene stops.

Benzene is a known human carcinogen. Long-term exposure can cause leukemia especially acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Benzene exposure has also been linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, aplastic anemia, and myelodysplastic syndromes.

Excessive exposure to benzene can be harmful to the immune system, increasing the chance for infection and perhaps lowering the body's defense against cancer. Exposure to benzene may be harmful to the reproductive organs. Some women workers who breathed high levels of benzene for many months had irregular menstrual periods. When examined, these women showed a decrease in the size of their ovaries.

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Diagnosis and TestingBenzene can enter your body through your lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and across your skin. When you are exposed to high levels of benzene in air, about half of the benzene you breathe in passes through the lining of your lungs and enters your bloodstream. When you are exposed to benzene in food or drink, most of the benzene you take in by mouth passes through the lining of your gastrointestinal tract and enters your bloodstream.

A small amount will enter your body by passing through your skin and into your bloodstream during skin contact with benzene or benzene-containing products. Once in the bloodstream, benzene travels throughout your body and can be temporarily stored in the bone marrow and fat. Benzene is converted to products, called metabolites, in the liver and bone marrow. Some of the harmful effects of benzene exposure are caused by these metabolites. Most of the metabolites of benzene leave the body in the urine within 48 hours after exposure.

For people exposed to relatively high levels of benzene, complete blood analyses can be used to monitor possible changes related to exposure. However, blood analyses are not useful when exposure levels are low.

Blood counts of all components of the blood and examination of bone marrow are used to determine benzene exposure and its health effects.In the body, benzene is converted to products called metabolites. Certain metabolites of benzene, such as phenol, muconic acid, and S-phenylmercapturic acid can be measured in the urine. The amount of phenol in urine has been used to check for benzene exposure in workers. The test is useful only when you are exposed to benzene in air at levels of 10 ppm or greater. However, this test must also be done shortly after exposure, and it is not a reliable indicator of how much benzene you have been exposed to, because phenol is present in the urine from other sources (diet, environment).

Measurements of muconic acid or S phenylmercapturic acid in the urine are more sensitive and reliable indicators of benzene exposure. The measurement of benzene in blood or of metabolites in urine cannot be used for making predictions about whether you will experience any harmful health effects.

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Treatments

There is no antidote for benzene poisoning! Only supportive medical treatment can be provided in a hospital setting. Therefore, potential victims must seek help immediately. The severity of benzene poisoning depends on the amount, route, and duration of the exposure.

Risks

Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

Risk factors associated with the development of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) can be either environmental or secondary to inherited or acquired predisposing conditions.

A variety of chemical exposures including petroleum products, benzene, herbicides, and insecticides have been closely linked to the development of AML.

Other recognized risk factors can increase the chances of developing leukemias.

Exposure to environmental chemical toxins and increased risk for leukemia has been of interest, especially concerning the development of AML. Prenatal exposure to maternal cigarette smoke increases the risk of developing AML.

Maternal use of marijuana and alcohol during pregnancy increases risk of the child developing AML.

Significant exposure to ionizing radiation results in a 10-to-20-fold increase in the incidence of AML. For example, individuals who were exposed to radiation from the atomic bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II developed a 20-fold increase in AML.

Several genetic risk factors have been identified that predispose individuals to develop AML.These factors may be inherited or acquired. The increased frequency of leukemia (both AML and ALL) in siblings of patients with leukemia as well as the relatively rare occurrences of familial leukemia strongly suggest an important hereditary contribution.

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Inherited predisposing conditions include Down syndrome, Fanconi’s anemia, Kostmann’s syndrome, Shwachman-Diamond syndrome, Diamond-Blackfan syndrome, Neurofibromatosis-type I, Ataxia-telangiectasia, Klinefelter’s syndrome, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, and Bloom syndrome. In general these inherited disorders result in altering the regulation of cell-cycle progression and DNA repair.

Acquired conditions such as aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndrome and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria can also predispose to the development of AML.

However, most cases of AML arise in children for whom there is no known genetic predisposition. Most children with AML do not have a family history of cancer or clinical abnormality that suggests a predisposing risk for development of AML.

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Genetic factors are thought to play a significant role in the cause of acute leukemia including acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

A higher risk of childhood ALL has been associated with increasing maternal age at conception.

The frequency of ALL is higher than expected in families of leukemia patients.

Siblings of children with leukemia, including ALL, have about twofold to fourfold greater risk of developing leukemia than do unrelated children in the general population.

Appearance

Benzene is a colorless and highly flammable liquid with a sweet smell. Michael Faraday first isolated and identified benzene in 1825 from the oily residue derived from the production of illuminating gas.

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Map Distribution

Map of Superfund Sites Overlain to Leukemia in Males Death Rate

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Map of Toxic Release Inventory Sites Overlain to Leukemia in Males Death Rate

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Map of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Death Rate in the US by County

(White Males from 1970 to 2004)

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California

These are some of the disease clusters in Calif. identified by the National Resources Defense Council in 2011

Several of these could have Benzene as a contributing chemical as follows:

LoCATIon: Earlimart, Tulare CountyThe California Department of Health Services (DHS) concluded there was a cluster of childhood cancer cases diagnosed between 1986 and 1989 in Earlimart. All of the Earlimart children with cancer were from families of farm workers.

LoCATIon: Kettleman City, Kings CountyThe California Department of Public Health identified a birth defects cluster in Kettleman City from 2007 to 2010. Children were born with cleft palates and other severe birth defects such as facial deformities, heart and brain problems, and limb defects. Some of those children have since died. Many residents blame the hazardous waste disposal facility, the largest in the western United States, that is just 3.5 miles southwest of town.

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LoCATIon: McFarland, Kern CountyDHS confirmed that McFarland has suffered from a childhood cancer rate three to four times higher than normal. Prior to 1990, there was significant under reporting of the amount of restricted pesticide use, which may have included known cancer causing compounds. This under reporting has stymied efforts to pinpoint environmental causes of this disease cluster.

LoCATIon: Montecito, Santa Barbara CountyDHS confirmed a cluster of childhood leukemia and lymphoma in Montecito from 1981 to 1988 at a rate 5 times higher than would be expected during an eight-year period in a city of its size. DHS has been unable to pinpoint a specific environmental cause. Community members were concerned about possible health effects from electromagnetic fields (EMF) levels comingfrom the transformer station near the elementary school and DHS did find elevated EMF at the school.

LoCATIon: Rosamond, Kern CountyThe Kern County Health Department and DHS identified a cluster of childhood cancer in Rosamond. During the years 1975 to 1984, eight cases of childhood cancer occurred in Rosamond. Four of those cases were medulloblastoma (a rare type of brain cancer); two were rhabdomyosarcomas (a rare muscular cancer), one Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and a Wilm's tumor (childhood kidney cancer). Although DHS identified several locations in Rosamond that were contaminated with dioxins, furans, and other chemicals that cause cancer, they did not identify how the children could have been in contact with these chemicals.

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Map of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Death Rate in Calif. by County

(White Females from 1970 to 2004)

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Map of Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Death Rate in Calif. by County

(Females from 1970 to 2004)

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Case Studies

North Carolina

CAMP LEJEUNE BENZENE POISONING

Camp Lejeune is a massive Marine base on the North Carolina seaboard. It is also the site of what some call the worst public water contamination in the nation's history. Its water wells were tainted with poisonous cancer-causing industrial compounds including Benzene for 30 years. The benzene most likely occurred as a result of 800,000 gallons of fuel that leaked from the base fuel farm during the years in question.An estimated 500,000 to 1 million people — including Marines and family living on base housing — drank, bathed and cooked using that fouled water. In 2008 lawmakers ordered the Marine Corps to notify those who might have been exposed. In June 2011 the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry began sending a survey to approximately 350,000 former employees or residents of Camp Lejeune. The purpose of the survey was to determine what diseases may be linked to the water contamination. An online health registry now contains more than 135,000 names. About 1,500 claims have been filed against the government seeking $33.8-billion in damages.

The contamination occurred from 1957 through the 1987, and health officials believe as many as 1 million people may have been exposed to the toxins before the wells that supplied the tainted water were closed two decades ago. The Marine Corps discovered the water contamination in 1980, yet waited four years to close contaminated wells and then minimized the danger to Camp Lejeune residents, critics say. Two wells were later reopened for almost two years during a water shortage.

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In 1985, Lejeune's commander told residents "minute" levels of contaminants had been found, failing to disclose that a lab had informed the Marine Corps that water was "highly contaminated."

According to the ATSDR Camp Lejeune website “One supply well serving the Hadnot Point drinking water system was highly contaminated with benzene. This well, “#602”, was sampled in July 1984 and found to have 380 parts per billion (μg/L) of benzene. The current drinking water standard for benzene is 5 μg/L. Well #602 was in operation during the July 1984 sample. However about 20 other wells that were not contaminated with benzene were also operating at the time. Water from all these wells was mixed together at the treatment plant before entering the drinking water system. Therefore, the level of benzene in the drinking water system would be much less than the level detected in well #602. Well #602 was placed out of service in late November 1984. Benzene was detected at 120 μg/L and 720 μg/L in two samples taken soon after the well was placed out of service.”

By law, veterans cannot file tort suits for injuries on active duty, even when the injuries are caused by government negligence. Their only recourse is to file a VA Compensation and Disability Claim. In 2010, the first disability claim for Benzene poisoning at the base was approved. More Benzene lawsuits have been filed and several federal lawsuits are making their way through the courts.

If you were stationed at Camp Lejeune during this period, and someone in your family has suffered from leukemia or another ailment that may be associated with benzene exposure, you could be entitled to legal compensation.

There is a long history of lost documents, poor management, and deceptive lab testings and results. In 1997 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) investigated the well water and concluded that cancerous effects in personnel exposed to the water was unlikely. According to a federal investigation, ATSDR investigators overlooked evidence of benzene in the water when preparing the report. To make matters worse, it was learned that an environmental contractor hired by the government dramatically underreported the level of benzene in Camp Lejeune's drinking water. Newly disclosed studies have revealed that the Marine Corps had been warned nearly a decade earlier about the dangerously high levels of benzene.

On Feb 3, 2011, Senator Richard Burr (NC) introduced the Caring for Camp Lejeune Veterans Act of 2011 for the second year and on August 1, 2011 it was placed on Senate Legislative Calendar.

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TexasBP-Texas City Refinery

Between April 6 and May 16, 2010, more than 15,000 pounds of Benzene and 500,000 pounds of other chemicals were released through flares at the BP Plant located in Texas City. The Texas City Refinery is the second-largest oil refinery in the state, and the third-largest in the United States.

The incident began when BP said a fire compromised a seal on an ultracracker’s hydrogen compressor. The malfunction forced the company to flare off gases. BP did not report the extent of the chemical release until June 2010. The measurements have indicated that the daily BP benzene release was over 40 times the state reportable level. In addition to benzene, BP has also acknowledged it has released other dangerous chemicals such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, propane and isobutene during this 40-day period.

Following the incident, people in the area complained of allergic reactions, sinus infections, headaches, nosebleeds and other symptoms consistent with benzene exposure. A $10 billion lawsuit has been filed in behalf of 2,000 complainants regarding the leakage of toxic chemicals. More than 30,000 Galveston County residents are expected to sue the company claiming adverse health effects from the release. The company has reportedly already agreed to pay up to $2 billion to settle civil claims.

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The Texas City Refinery is also the site of 15 deaths in the March 23, 2005 explosion which injured over 170 people. BP has also been fined over $180 million dollars for safety violations at the Texas City Refinery including

$50.6 million - with federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for missing deadline to make certain safety upgrades; August 2010

$50 million - with U.S. Justice Department to resolve criminal investigation into deadly 2005 explosion; October 2007

$21.3 million - from OSHA for health and safety violations in the 2005 explosion; September 2005.

$15 million - with Justice Department for violations of federal Clean Air Act from two fires and a leak in 2004 and 2005; October 2010

On November 3, 2011 BP agreed to pay a record $50 million fine to Texas for unlawful releases of air pollution (including Benzene) during and after the deadly explosion at its Texas City refinery in 2005. Under the settlement, BP does not acknowledge liability. BP had previously pleaded guilty in 2008 to a felony violation of the federal Clean Air Act and served three years' probation. The company which put the refinery up for sale in February 2011, reportedly settled to avoid the uncertainty of future litigation.

Furthermore, in March 2011, eight contractors who worked at the BP Texas City refinery filed a lawsuit over a benzene leak that occurred in 2009. In addition to BP Products North America Inc., the $500 million lawsuit also names Pasadena Tank Corp., a contractor at the Texas City refinery, as a defendant.

The benzene leak at the BP Texas City refinery occurred on August 19, 2009. According to the workers’ lawsuit, a vapor and a strong odor completely enveloped their work area and they pinpointed the source to a broken pipe. Though they evacuated the area, the plaintiffs claim to have been “injured and had his or her long-term health put in jeopardy after being exposed to extremely high levels of benzene.” Each of the workers experienced various symptoms and sought medical treatment, and were informed by their doctors that they had been exposed to benzene.

The lawsuit further claims that BP “minimized the leak and release, and its effects in both its internal documentation, as well as the documentation with the authorities.”

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Monetary recovery is allowed under a legal theory of negligence. Money damages can include past and future medical bills and lost past and future wages. Depending on the facts of each individual claimant's situation, compensation could also include: mental pain and suffering damages, permanent impairment/disfigurement, wrongful death damages, loss of enjoyment of life damages, and punitive damages.

SE Texas Map of Toxic Release Inventory Sites Overlain to Leukemia Death Rate

(White Males from 2003 to 2007)

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OHIO

Lake Erie Cancer Cluster 2010Since 1996, 35 children have been diagnosed — and three have died — of brain tumors, leukemia, lymphoma, and other forms of cancer — all within a 12-mile wide circle that includes two small towns and farmland just south of Lake Erie. With many of the diagnoses coming between 2002 and 2006, state health authorities declared it a cancer cluster, saying the number and type of diagnoses exceed what would be expected statistically for so small a population over that time.

Eight children were diagnosed with cancer in and near Clyde between 2002-2006; nearly four times the number that state health experts figure is normal. Ohio health investigators converged on the town of just 6,000 people halfway between Cleveland and Toledo and home to the Whirlpool Corp.'s largest washing machine factory.

Air and water samples have not revealed any concerns around the Whirlpool plant or the Vickery Environmental waste site just outside town, where hazardous chemicals are injected into rock a half-mile below ground. No soil samples have been taken.

After three years of exhaustive investigation, no cause is known. Investigators have tested wells and public drinking water, sampled groundwater and air near factories and checked homes, schools and industries for radiation.

The outbreak around Clyde is only 50 miles north of another cluster that Ohio health officials spent four years investigating. Beginning in the late 1990s, nine former students from River Valley High School in Marion were diagnosed with leukemia. Tests found toxic chemicals in schoolyard soil and students were relocated to new buildings miles away. Investigators never definitively linked the cancers to the old school site, a former World War II Army depot where wastes and solvents were dumped and burned.

The study of Pliofilm rubber workers at three facilities in Ohio (Rinsky et al., 1981) provides the best published set of data to date for evaluating human cancer risks from exposure to benzene. The first study consisted of 1,165 male workers who had been employed sometime between 1940 and 1965 and followed through 1981. The second study (Rinsky et al., 1987) included an additional 6.5 years of follow-up from

the earlier study. Altogether, 9 leukemias were observed versus 2.66 expected in this cohort by December 31, 1981. In one study it was found that the “critical” concentration is between 20 and 25 ppm for the risk of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) “to be expressed,” and for the median, the risk is between 50 and 60 ppm,

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NEVADA

Truck driver - Benzene Poisoning

On October 19, 2011, Kinder Morgan agreed to pay $7.5 Million in Wrongful Death Case

A Clark County Nevada District Court jury has awarded the family of Nevada truck driver, Rick Lewis, $7.5 million in a case where the Lewis family accused Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. of failing to monitor its operations for benzene exposure during routine operations, disregarding normal safety and industrial hygiene practices, and failing to warn its employees and contractors about the hazards associated with benzene exposure.

The lawsuit said that Lewis was exposed to benzene while working as a gasoline tanker-truck driver at a Kinder Morgan bulk loading facility, where he loaded gas on a daily bases and delivered it to various retail outlets. This exposure lead Lewis to develop Myelodysplastic Syndrome, a disease of the bone marrow which causes the abnormal production of blood cells and platelets. It is generally incurable and requires chemotherapy, transfusions, and bone marrow transplants. Benzene is a known carcinogen which can cause various forms blood and bone marrow diseases and leukemia. Mr. Lewis was diagnosed with MDS in March 2008 and died in May 2009 at the age of 58.

The lead attorney for the Lewis family said “The jury’s verdict confirms that Kinder Morgan acted in a negligent manner in distributing benzene-containing gasoline without ever warning of the dangers associated with benzene exposure. The verdict underscores that corporations have a duty to workers to protect them from hazards associated with their facilities and products…”

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Things to Avoid!

1. Cigarette smoke; both as a smoker and from second hand smoke.2. Gasoline fumes – keep face away from tank when pumping3. Residences near refineries or chemical plants which release benzene4. Water supplies pumped from groundwater near military bases5. Water contaminated by toxic sites6. Breathing in any products which contain benzene.

For More Information – see websites.

http://wereyoupoisoned.yolosite.comhttp://www.wereyoupoisoned.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzenehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene_in_soft_drinks

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/faq_water.html

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