Industry documents show effort to hide health impacts of benzene

December 4, 2014 | 2:59 PM

By Susan Phillips

A new report out today by the Center for Public Integrity details how workers exposed to the cancer causing chemical benzene, get little support from their employers. CPI gained access to documents from court cases across the country, which show how companies try to debunk the science linking benzene to cancer. More from CPI:

Taken together, the documents — put in context by interviews with dozens of lawyers, scientists, academics, regulators and industry representatives — depict a “research strategy” built on dubious motives, close corporate oversight and painstaking public relations. They comprise an industry playbook to counteract growing evidence of benzene’s toxic effects, which continue to command the attention of federal and state regulators and be fiercely debated in court.

Several occupations come with an exposure risk of benzene, including steel workers, refinery workers and gas station attendants. A recently published peer-reviewed study in the journal Environmental Health found high levels of benzene near some natural gas production sites.

Comments

JimBarth

Lie. Lie again, personally attack the opposition. Say up is down and down is up as if it is all subjective, as if there is a debate, throw in a jobs, jobs, jobs, mantra, bring it all to a boil, stir, then start over. Standard Operating Procedure for the oil and gas extraction industry (Hey, benzene is under your kitchen sink! You get more exposure when you fill up your car! Really, you drive a car? You hypocrite!). Repeat a version of this for 6 years.
- paulroden
  
  I don’t have benzene under my sink, in my garage or my basement workshop. Benzene is a component in fracking fluid. It is toxic and causes cancer. The fracking industry continues to repeat the same lie that no water or ground water has ever been contaminated by any chemical, leak or spill. Anybody who accepts a cash settlement from them has to accept a gag order and any medical practitioner has to accept a gag order as well. They can’t even consult or confer with another medical provider about a patient’s conditioner. And to top it all off, they are exempt from all of the Clean Water, Safe Drinking Water, Resource Recovery and Reclamation and Clear Air Act provisions by the “Halliburton Loophole” of the 2005 Energy Policy Reform Act.
Julieann Wozniak

Um, I was a chemistry student during the 70s at WVU and I loved lab. We were always warned never to breathe in the benzene fumes, or any other chemical fumes for that matter. I learned why in my cell biology classes. This is not new knowledge. But it is yet another example of how little respect the industry has for human life, and our health and safety. Western Pennsylvania is not Bhopal, India. We refuse to be expendable, or assume our roles as noisy impediments to your pursuit of ultimate profit and power.
- paulroden
  
  But the industry continues to claim they have nothing to hide, the chemicals are safe and can be found under any kitchen sink, basement or garage workshop, which is yet another lie. I don’t know about you but I don’t use or have kept benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene or xylene under my sink, in my garage or in my basement workshop. All they care about is the maximizing of profits, cutting costs, eliminating labor and the environment be damned. They are just addicted to greed and have no compassion for people or the environment. “Drill baby, drill,” is their philosophy.

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