Dangerous and cancer-causing properties of products and chemicals in the oil refining and petrochemical industries. Part XXX: Causal relationship between chronic myelogenous leukemia and benzene-containing solvents.

Benzene and benzene-containing products and solvents have long been associated with bone marrow toxicity. Both animal studies and human epidemiological studies have shown statistically significant increases of leukemia and other lymphohematopoietic cancers in workers exposed to benzene. The most common leukemia that has been associated with benzene exposure, also called benzene poisoning, is acute myelocytic leukemia (AML). A review of the epidemiological literature on workers exposed to benzene or benzene-containing solvents and products shows, without question, that this exposure is significantly related to other types of leukemia and lymphoma. In this article, we review the literature on the relationship between benzene exposure and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and find that benzene and benzene-containing products are significantly related to morbidity and mortality from CML.