Philadelphia Settlement Delivers Justice for Career Automotive Technician After Benzene-Linked Blood Cancers
Locks Law Firm is pleased to announce a $4.6 million settlement on behalf of a client who was a career automotive technician, diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) — cancers of the blood and bone marrow — caused by occupational and non-occupational exposure to benzene-containing products.
The case was litigated and settled in Philadelphia. The plaintiff used common automotive mechanical products such as carburetor cleaners, brake cleaner, a parts washer, and gasoline in automotive and mechanical work. Defendants in this case had historical Knowledge of these hazards yet continued to place benzene-containing products into the stream of commerce without adequate warning.
The plaintiff was forced to leave the workforce and received a diagnosis of Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS)/Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). MDS and AML are among a number of blood and bone marrow cancers and conditions known to be caused by benzene exposure.
Benzene is a well-established human carcinogen with documented toxic properties dating back to 1897. Since the 1920s, medical and scientific literature has recommended safer solvents in place of benzene. By 1948, the American Petroleum Institute — of which several defendants were members — published a toxicological review of benzene, concluding that the only absolutely safe concentration of benzene is zero. In 1979, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) definitively classified benzene as a human carcinogen. In 2025, IARC classified gasoline as a Group 1 carcinogen.
“Science has long shown the connection between benzene and cancer,” said Andrew
DuPont, Partner, Locks Law Firm. “But it takes litigation to finally hold the industry
accountable.”
Locks Law Firm has emerged as the national leader in litigation surrounding benzene
exposure from gasoline, firmly establishing plaintiffs’ rights associated with chemical
exposure to the carcinogen and setting the stage for what may be the next major mass tort in the United States.
In a landmark 2024 case, the firm secured $725M, the largest benzene settlement in
history. The case linked chronic exposure to benzene in gasoline to life-threatening
illnesses, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and other blood cancers. This win has opened the floodgates for additional claims and catalyzed a wave of over a dozen
confidential settlements with major oil and gas companies since.
