Benzene Exposure & Leukemia

Benzene is a common industrial chemical and a known human carcinogen. For families, the harm doesn’t look like a “chemical exposure.” It looks like a diagnosis that hits like a catastrophe: acute myeloid leukemia (AML), bone marrow failure, repeated hospitalizations, intensive chemotherapy, transplant discussions, life-threatening infections, and too often wrongful death.

Benzene can damage the bone marrow and blood-forming system, and long-term exposure has been associated with AML and related disorders. IARC classifies benzene as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) based on sufficient evidence, including leukemia risk. This page is about the cases where that outcome wasn’t inevitable, where exposure was preventable, controls were available, and the people responsible still allowed benzene risk to reach workers and communities.

The illnesses that turn benzene cases into catastrophic injury

In Benzene isn’t just “irritating.” The major concern is what it can do to the blood and bone marrow:

• Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) – the leukemia most consistently linked with benzene exposure
• Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and bone marrow failure pathways that can progress to AML
• Severe anemia and immune suppression that can lead to repeated, life-threatening complications

Catastrophic harm often comes from the cascade: immunosuppression, sepsis risk, bleeding events, organ complications, and the brutal toll of treatment.

What to do if you or a loved one has leukemia and a benzene exposure history

If you’re in the middle of treatment, your first job is health. Your second is preserving the story while it’s still retrievable.

Save and request:

• Diagnosis records (pathology, cytogenetics, treatment course)
• A simple exposure timeline (jobs, sites, duties, years; fuel/solvent contact; spills/events)
• Training materials, SDS sheets, air monitoring records, fit testing/PPE records (if available)
• Coworker names who can confirm day-to-day exposure conditions

When the cost is a life, “we didn’t know” isn’t good enough

Leukemia is a catastrophic diagnosis: physically, financially, and emotionally. If benzene exposure played a role, your case deserves a serious toxic tort investigation that treats the exposure as the central event it was, not an afterthought.

If you’re facing AML or grieving a wrongful death and there’s a history of fuel, solvent, refinery, or industrial exposure, McEldrew Purtell can evaluate whether preventable benzene exposure is part of the story and pursue accountability that matches the scale of the harm.