Every day, American workers are exposed to numerous types of toxic chemicals in the workplace.  While you can see or sense other hazards that may be present in the work environment, it's often impossible to detect the presence of toxic chemicals that seep into your skin as you work, or colorless and odorless, but toxic vapors that can be inhaled.  Skin penetration can, in many ways, and in the long run, be more harmful than the inhalation of chemicals, because workers are not aware of the exposure.  This allows non-volatile chemicals to settle on the surface of the skin to be absorbed slowly and in dangerous concentrations over a period of time.

The degree and intensity of toxic chemical exposure in the workplace can be seen in the fact that an estimated 100,000 deaths occur every year, because of exposure to these hazardous toxic chemicals.  This number takes into account the number of deaths that occur because of previous and prolonged exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace.  In many cases, the ill-effects of toxic exposure become evident only years after the exposure occurs.  For instance, exposure to asbestos which began in the sixties in the construction industry went unregulated and unchecked for years, until it became clear that workers were suffering and dying from mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer caused by asbestos inhalation.

Benzene Exposure

Benzene is a toxic, but sweet smelling, colorless liquid that is used heavily in industrial and manufacturing processes. It is derived from coal and petroleum products, and as such, may be present in large quantities in petrochemical plants and refineries. It is used mainly in the manufacture of plastics, pesticides, dyes and rubber. Benzene is also produced naturally through cigarette smoke, although this exposure occurs in very minute quantities, and is therefore not considered to be harmful.  It is only when the exposure is increased, and continues over a prolonged period of time that the serious and detrimental effects of this toxic chemical compound on human health, can be seen.

Methods of Benzene Exposure

Benzene can be inhaled, ingested, penetrate through the skin, or may be absorbed through contact with the eyes.  Employers are required to minimize exposure to benzene to prevent its detrimental effects, even in high risk industries.

Effects of Benzene Exposure

People who have been exposed to benzene in the workplace even for a period of less than five years, have suffered various form of leukemia, a kind of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow, and types of anemia and non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.  Although anybody who works in manufacturing industries that involve the use of or release of benzene may suffer from the effects of toxic exposure, the consequences are seen in their greatest intensity in people who work in petrochemical plants, benzene purification plants and oil refineries.