Product Liability Resource Center
Benzene Exposure Information
Benzene is widely used in the manufacture of chemicals, detergents, plastics, nylon, and other synthetic fibers. It is also naturally found in crude oil, gasoline, and cigarette smoke. Intense or prolonged benzene exposure can be responsible for numerous debilitating health effects, the most serious of which is leukemia. Leukemia is a potentially fatal cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. Althoughleukemia can occur in individuals who have never been exposed to benzene, the inhalation, ingestion orabsorption of benzene can lead to the development of acute myeloid leukemia (acute myelogenousleukemia - AML).AML is indicated by abnormal blood cell production in the bone marrow, and causes a reduction of capacity in the immune system, leaving sufferers susceptible to infection and a host of other problems.
