When an employer negligently exposes an employee to benzene, and disease, cancer or wrongful death is the result, the employee or surviving family members are entitled to compensation for the losses suffered. Individuals working in petroleum refineries or the transportation of benzene face serious health risks, including cancer. If you are involved in the transport of benzene, gas or crude oil by truck, barge or railroad, you risk potential exposure to benzene. Workers who are engaged in the production of detergents, drugs, paints, pesticides, plastics, resins, rubber or other synthetic materials also face potential benzene exposure. If you work in a field that requires the use of benzene, you are at greater risk for high levels of exposure than the general public.Christian D. Chesson knows how to prove exposure at industrial sites on how to resolve a case without litigation when it better suits the client’s interest. In the result of a trial, The Law Office of Christian D. Chesson is well equipped to handle such a case.
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Benzene Health Effects and Related Diseases
Exposure to benzene is associated with several diseases, including Aplastic anemia, leukemia, multiple myeloma and ailments involved in the suppression of the immune system such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and myelodysplasia.Acute Myelogenous / Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML): also known as acute myelogenous leukemia, acute granulocytic leukemia, and acute nonlymphocytic leukemia, AML is defined as a malignancy of blood-forming tissues that produces an overabundant population of immature white blood cells. Those cells then begin to replace bone marrow and the normal cells stop functioning. Symptoms of this disease include: prolonged bleeding, skin rash, fatigue, skeletal pain, and weight loss. Petrochemical companies have taken the position that benzene will only cause AML, not other cancers; however, there have been actions taken linking high levels of exposure of benzene to numerous blood cancers and disorders.Secondary Aplastic Anemia or acquired aplastic anemia is defined as bone marrow failure where blood cells can no longer form resulting in an overall reduction in all types of blood cells. Symptoms of this disease include: fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath and rapid heart rate.Myelodysplasia-related syndromes: Myelodysplasia causes the abnormal formation of bone marrow cells. These syndromes result in changes in the bone marrow that are tale-tale signs of a pre-leukemic state.