In an editorial in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Philip Landrigan notes that 1997 was the 100^th anniversary of the first reports of benzene causing blood disorders. It has subsequently been linked to other blood diseases, including leukaemia. Landrigan comments: “The tragedy of benzene is that it has taken so long for science to be translated into protective action.”

Philip J Landrigan. Benzene and blood: One hundred years of evidence, American Journal of Industrial Medicine, volume 29, issue 3, pages 225–226, March 1996.