Benzene and AML
Benzene is sometimes known as benzol and is a colourless molecular formula which derives naturally in crude oils. Historically it was used in products such as industrial cleaning products designed for degreasing metal. It was also used in commercial after shave gels, cement, paint strippers and acne products, although these types of products have been almost completely eradicated due to the discovery of Benzene’s implications on a person’s health. These days Benzene is only really though to be used as an intermediate to create other chemicals. It is widely used in the plastics and nylon industry.
It is now widely known that heavy exposure to Benzene can have serious health implications. Smokers are particularly at risk as it is found in cigarette smoke, also high levels can be found at gas stations due to its origins from crude oils. This is why Benzene is classed as a carcinogen, which means it can contribute to causing many forms of cancer if a person is exposed to high amounts of the chemical. One form of cancer which is though that Benzene can cause is Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) which is a cancer that occurs in the myeloid line of white blood cells and is potentially fatal.
You would think that these health risks would persuade everyone to eradicate the use of Benzene is uncontrolled environments which can lead to human exposure, but a controversial use of Benzene as a cleaning product in oil companies is though to still be going on. If this is a wide-spread practice, the oil companies are putting their workers and themselves at risk of serious health problems such as AML and other serious forms of cancer. This type of Benzene use is though to have occurred in the late 19th and early 20th century but it is very alarming to think that this dangerous practice could still be going on in some of the world’s largest oil companies who seem to have a complete disregard for their employee’s lives. It is essential that these oil companies find an alternative to Benzene for industrial cleaning to safeguard people’s lives and livelihoods.
