My father was an organic chemist and worked at the DuPont Experimental Station from 1947 to 1977. He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 1977 and died after several months of chemotherapy. Our family suspected that exposure to benzene in his research lab at DuPont contributed to his illness, but we had no proof. I remember hearing stories about how, in the early years, lab workers commonly used benzene as a general cleaning solvent.