Environmental Research Foundation . . P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403 . . Subscriptions are free. To subscribe, E-mail the words . .
Benzene causes leukemia in humans.
In 1977 OSHA first proposed the standard that was finally adopted in 1987. The original proposal was attacked in court by the American Petroleum Institute. Two appeals courts and the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the oil giants, arguing that OSHA had not shown that benzene threatened workers' health. After the Supreme Court decision in 1980, OSHA built a new case against benzene but it took them five years to do it, using data available as early as 1976. The old benzene standard caused a five-fold increase in the risk of leukemia for workers.