FELA: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma claims

How benzene exposure leads to non-Hodgkin lymphoma

NHL originates in lymphocytes, the white blood cells central to immune function. Benzene disrupts their development through overlapping mechanisms. Its metabolites accumulate in the bone marrow, where lymphocytes are produced, inducing chromosomal abnormalities and damaging the hematopoietic stem cells from which lymphoid cells arise. Separately, benzene suppresses immune function and dysregulates immune surveillance, creating an environment where abnormal lymphocyte clones can expand unchecked.

The epidemiologic evidence behind this is specific. A 2021 meta-analysis published in Lancet Planetary Health found a 33% increased NHL risk in highly exposed groups, with findings consistent across cohort and case-control studies. A large prospective cohort found an 87% increased NHL risk in benzene-exposed workers, with higher exposure groups exceeding twice the baseline risk. Researchers concluded that the evidence suggests a causal link between benzene exposure and NHL, particularly diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Railroad workers accumulate benzene exposure through diesel exhaust in enclosed locomotive cabs and rail yards, fuel transfer operations, and degreasing solvents used during maintenance, conditions that generate cumulative benzene doses over entire careers.