Leukaemia victim sues Shell over benzene exposure

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ROXANA — Scott Monroe was a 19-year-old naval scholarship student of nuclear engineering when he came down with a potentially lethal blood cancer that he and his lawyers claim is the result of a benzene leak from the refinery near his home.

Now, the disease, the refinery and the leak are the subject of a lawsuit Monroe filed last week in Madison County Circuit Court, naming Shell Oil Co. and BP Products North America as defendants.

To read the full article click HERE

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Exposure to benzene at work and the risk of leukaemia.

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"A substantial number of epidemiologic studies have provided estimates of the relation between exposure to benzene at work and the risk of leukemia, but the results have been heterogeneous. To bridge this gap in knowledge, we synthesized the existing epidemiologic evidence on the relation between occupational exposure to benzene and the risk of leukemia, including all types combined and the four main subgroups acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)."

I have just found this article on the web. The results it shows makes me wonder with renewed interest if my exposure to AVTUR (Aviation Fuel) during my 12 years in the RAF had any link to my diagnosis of CLL in 2006.

To read the full report click HERE.

What may have caused my Leukaemia?

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I often find myself asking this question, but to be honest it seems that nobody within the medical circles can give me a real reason, so I have decided to list all of the illnesses and contacts with "dodgy" materials that I can remember.Perhaps someone somewhere will look at this list at some time and say "Ah ha...that's the link!"....you never know :-)


Things that may be relevant to my Leukaemia:

Pneumonia as a baby aged approx 18 months
Mumps. Twice as a child aged 7-9 years.
Chicken Pocks (or is it Pox?) as child aged 11-13.
Bronchitis.Suffered with this several times aged 18-21....my fault for being a mug and smoking !

Contact with and inhalation of AVTUR Aviation Fuel (Benzene based) for a few years, also got covered from head to foot in several gallons of the stuff on occasion! (RAF)
Working with components containing Beryllium (RAF)
Using large amounts of white spirit and trichloroethane to clean aircraft parts. (RAF)
Handling lots of luvvly Yellow Chromate which was used for assembling Tornado Wheels (RAF)
Being gassed once a year (for 12 years) with CS gas as part of my GDT,Ground Defence Training.(RAF)

If I think of anything else that might be relevant I will add it to this post as and when I get chance :-)

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Benzene based Henna tattoos linked to leukaemia risk.

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Henna tattoos, which have become popular with holiday-makers as they travel through Asia and the Middle East, have been linked to higher rates of leukaemia.



Researchers in the Gulf found a much higher than usual incidence of types of leukaemia in local women – elsewhere, most sufferers are men. They suggest that one possible reason could be the popular local custom of using henna to create elaborate skin decorations.



They believe that it is not the henna itself that is the problem, but the compounds used as a solvent for the henna powder. Benzene, which is known to cause cancer, is banned for this purpose in many countries, but is still widely employed. "The majority of the females in UAE routinely use henna to stain their nail, hands, feet and to decorate a large area of the skin of their arms and legs for cosmetic reasons," said the study, by a team from hospitals in the United Arab Emirates, published in the Leukaemia and Lymphoma journal.



To read more about these findings click HERE to view the Telegraph.co.uk Website.

UPDATE:

Having now received many replies and comments about this post, it appears that many of my readers are angry that I have not researched my story in more depth before I decided to publish.As I have already mentioned in my reply I did not write this article,only posted it on this blog as it makes a very definite reference to a Leukaemia issue.

I have been informed (in no uncertain way!) that "proper" henna is an entirely natural product, and in this form would pose no threat to an individuals health.The type of henna in the report is not a fully natural product, and has been found to contain Benzene which has been linked to both AML and ALL form of Leukaemia.I think that the point to consider is that the report is from a research centre based in the Middle East, and concentrates for the most part on the use of henna in large quantities by ladies in that area,.The point therefore being made is that this "artificial" henna is the type that MAY pose a risk.

I think that it is only fair then that I post this video in response to my critics, in an effort to "balance the books" as it where!.

Watch and learn folks :-)

Hope that this explains the way that REAL henna is produced :-)

Andy

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Have you ever had one of those OMG moments ?

I have, just now whilst surfing the Internet seeking information about something that jumped out of the pages of a 1985 medical book that my wife was reading the other day.

Benzene .Not a big word really, but one which has just sent a shiver down my spine in relation to the words that preceded it, namely "Chemicals that may cause Leukaemia".

Why the concern? Well many years ago in the early 80's i was a young fella who had just started a new career in the Royal Air Force, and over the next 12 years i spent my time quite often up to my elbows in AVTUR (F34) jet engine fuel.And....your ahead of me now aren't you? Guess what one of the "nasty" ingredients of AVTUR is ?....Benzene ! :-(.

I spent 4 years at RAF Cranwell, 2 of which i spent on the flight line, and some days i would spend whole days pumping hundreds of gallons of AVTUR into fuel tanks...occasionally getting soaked when the open lines tanks overflowed due to a sticky filler trigger.
I spent 2 years in a fuel tank bay at RAF Lossiemouth, often crawling into them to carry out work, and although later there was forced air breathing equipment provided, for the most part we used crappy face masks which did bugger all and hardly made any difference.

On one occasion, whilst at RAF Lossiemouth i was testing a drop tank when a hose on the test rig ruptured and soaked me from head to toe in AVTUR. I went to the MO at the centre, was left to sit in drenched overalls for almost an hour, then went home and had a shower on his directions, i was a little burned by the stuff, but it did not really concern me...but now....well now i am beginning to feel a little anxious that the exposure over those years to AVTUR,MEK,OM15,Yellow Chromate and the likes may, just possibly have some link to my leukaemia.

I will be doing a little more research on this subject.I will keep you posted of any developments or discoveries that i make.