Carcinogenic Benzene

In the lecture this morning, it was mentioned that benzene is a carcinogenic compound, which causes people who are exposed to it for long periods of time to develop cancer. The carcinogenic property of benzene was only conclusively recognised a few decades ago. I remember one of my lecturers in university telling us that chemists of the past used to use benzene to wash their hands after handling organic experiments.

Here is quite an old video about how a worker developed leukaemia after being exposed to benzene on his job.