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High Risk Jobs / Benzene Exposure
A risk factor is anything that increases a person's chance
of getting a disease such as cancer. Environmental risk factors
include benzene, smoking cigarettes, and prior exposure to
chemotherapy drugs.
Benzene Exposure and Acute Myelogenous Leukemia
Exposure in the work place to benzene use may cause Acute myelogenous leukemia. While
benzene has been banned in the United States for over 20 years,
workers are still exposed to significant amounts of benzene
poisoning when working with petroleum products. Most workers
come into contact with benzene by breathing it into their
lungs or absorbing it through their skin when working with
solvents. In the U.S. millions of workers are exposed to significant
amounts of benzene every year. Even small amounts of exposure
to benzene can cause Acute myelogenous leukemia cancer.
AML High Risk Jobs include:
Adhesive production
Barge Workers
Chemical Workers
Dock Workers
Gasoline distribution workers
Industrial plant workers who use solvents
Newspaper Press Workers
Offshore Workers
Painters
Paper and Pulp
Pesticide Manufacturing
Pipefittlers
Printers
Refinery Workers
Rubber Workers
Shoe / Leather workers
Synthetic Rubber Production
Tankermen
Truck Drivers
At Risk Benzene Exposure:
Benzene production workers include anyone who works around
the following:
· Automotive gasoline Fumes
· Industrial Solvents
· Oil and Coal Emissions
· Paint
AML and Cigarettes:
Although many people know that smoking is responsible for
most cancers of the lungs, mouth, throat, and larynx, few
realize that it can affect cells that do not come into direct
contact with smoke. Cancer-causing substances in tobacco smoke
are absorbed by the lungs and spread through the bloodstream
damaging normal cells and causing AML leukemia.
Prior Exposure to Chemotherapy Drugs
Patients with other cancers who are treated with certain chemotherapy
drugs are more likely to develop AML. The drugs most often
associated with these secondary (post-treatment) leukemias
include mechlorethamine, procarbazine, chlorambucil, etoposide,
teniposide and to a lesser degree, cyclophosphamide.
Combining these drugs with radiation therapy further increases
the risk. Most secondary leukemias are cases of AML
and occur within 9 years after treatment of Hodgkin's disease,
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, or childhood ALL. Secondary leukemias
sometimes occur following treatment of breast, ovarian, or
other cancers. Chemotherapy does not work as well for patients
with secondary Acute myelogenous leukemia.
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Leukemia Cancer Information