Pressman/Printers
Pressman/Printers & Benzene
If you routinely came into contact with inks, ink solvents and cleaning agents, you may have been exposed to toxic levels of benzene. Employees who worked in the printing industry – especially during the 1970’s – are at an elevated risk for developing Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), and non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL).
Your oncologist may not have asked whether you worked around benzene. However, if you cleaned the presses, you were likely being exposed to benzene. Other common ways that pressmen would be exposed to benzene include evaporation from ink fountains, the paper post-exit, the paper web and filling fountains. Historically, many workers in the printing industry actually washed their hands with benzene-containing solvents. Exposures like that can cause AML and MDS.
The companies that produced, sold and utilized these benzene-containing products were aware of the dangers for decades before they warned the users. If you worked with or around benzene-containing inks, ink solvents and cleaning agents and have developed a blood or bone cancer, please contact an experienced benzene lawyer at 1-800-BENZENE. You may have a claim against the manufacturers of the products.
