Is benzene a chemical which can cause cancer? Please explain me…

Yes, Benzene is a carcinogen, i. e., a substance capable of causing cancer..

Benzene, a liquid aromatic hydrocarbon, is mixed in petrol. It is an environmental pollutant and found everywhere in air. It is a very important solvent for the industry. Moreover, it is also a raw materials.

Benzene exposure has very bad health effects. Exposure to low level causes drowsiness, dizziness, fast heart rate, headache, confusion and unconsciousness and higher level can result death.

Long term exposure causes damage to the bone marrow and the immune system; decreases the number of red blood cells and increases the chance of infection.

Women who have long- time exposure suffer from irregular menstrual periods and decreased size of ovaries.

Lead has been removed from the petrol throughout the world. But to maintain the properties of leaded petrol the industry mixes benzene with petrol.

Benzene is more harmful than lead and now it is omnipresent.

What are the inhalants abused?

Inhalants are organic solvents including nitro-aromatics, all volatile organic solvents including nail polish remover, paint diluters, whitener-solvent etc., gas aerosols, petrol and Kerosene. The vapours of the inhalants, when inhaled can cause a high intoxication. These are CNS depressants and slow down or affect the brain and CNS activity which affects physical, mental and the emotional responses.

These solvents and propellants are available everywhere, in the household, office, garden house etc. and moreover they are legal and also very cheap.

Acetone is available in nail polish remover; toluene and xylene are present in permanent markers.

Aerosol is present in every aerosol spray systems, such as air freshener, computer keyboard cleaner spray, aerosol hair spray and aerosol insecticides.

Toluene is present in many products such as turpentine, petrol, paint, spray paint and in many adhesives.

Cigarette lighter fluids and paint thinners

Butane gas is also used in households as inexpensive home welding kits.

Amyl nitrite, a nitrite drug which is used in the treatment of angina could also be inhaled and abused.

Alkyl nitrite is in video head cleaner or in some nail polish remover.

Butyl nitrite is sold as a room deodorizer could also be abused.

Think of the whitener used even by school children in India and the thinner is used to abuse. It could be avoided if the industry could supply closed whitener which also looks like a ball point pen without any thinner and only this is used by children in developed countries. Normal whitener is exclusively used only in the offices.

These are only a few to mention but almost all solvent vapours can be inhaled. In the industries hundred thousands of tons of organic solvents are used for the extraction and also as raw materials.

Last but not the least, petrol and kerosene are available everywhere, without any problem.

We must talk to our children and teenagers and explain them about the danger of these cheap and easily available inhalants. In your household keep these solvents somewhere under lock and key, but awareness is the best defence against these horrible things.

Abuse of inhalants is very dangerous for our health.

Lead vs. Benzene in Petrol in our World

It is good that in our world we have lead from the petrol. Lead is not poisonous to adults. Even a pregnant woman had no problem with it.

But, lead makes only problems to the children, particularly for the school going children. It could reduce their intelligence thus their capacity of learning. There are studies from World Health Organization (WHO) involving hundreds of thousands of school going children which proved these adverse effects.

We have done a great job, but the substitute for lead in petrol, benzene is more dangerous. Up to 5% of benzene is mixed with petrol to get the similar characteristics of the leaded petrol.

Benzene comes out with the exhaust gases to the environment. It is present everywhere now and bad for our health.

Benzene is cancerous but nobody talks about that.

Long-term health effects of exposure to benzene:

• The major effect of benzene from long-term exposure is on the blood. (Long-term exposure means exposure of a year or more.) Benzene causes harmful effects on the bone marrow and can cause a decrease in red blood cells, leading to anemia. It can also cause excessive bleeding and can affect the immune system, increasing the chance for infection.
• Some women who breathed high levels of benzene for many months had irregular menstrual periods and a decrease in the size of their ovaries. It is not known whether benzene exposure affects the developing fetus in pregnant women or fertility in men.
• Animal studies have shown low birth weights, delayed bone formation, and bone marrow damage when pregnant animals breathed benzene.
• The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that benzene causes cancer in humans. Long-term exposure to high levels of benzene in the air can cause leukemia, cancer of the blood-forming organs.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/benzene/basics/facts.asp

Now-a-days we know continuous environmental exposure is also a great risk for our health.