Benzidine
Benzidine Dyes, Bladder Cancer and Legal Compensation
Certain textile dyes can cause bladder cancer.
There are a group of textile dyes that can cause bladder cancer
in people who worked with or around the dyes years ago. These
textile dyes are known as benzidine dyes.
Like other textile dyes, benzidine dyes usually came to the
work place in dye powder form and were then mixed into a liquid
dye solution. Some of the most widely used benzidine dyes were
known by these generic (common) names: Direct Black 38, Direct
Brown 95, Direct Blue 6, and Acid Red 85. Hundreds of benzidine
dyes in many assorted colors were used for dyeing textiles, dyeing
paper, and dyeing leather. Each of the dye manufacturers used
their own trade names for their version of a particular color,
with the result being that there were more than 3,000 trade names
for the many different benzidine dyes which were used by American
workers over the years.
The United States government estimates that more than 80,000
workers have been exposed to benzidine dyes, primarily in the
textile industry, paper industry, and leather industry. Due to
their chemical properties, benzidine dyes easily entered the
body through inhalation (breathing), skin absorption, or ingestion
(by mouth). One could have been exposed on the job by breathing
the dye dust from the dye powders or getting his/her skin stained
by a liquid dye solution.
|
