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My husband was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. He was a medical malpractice attorney, a very good one, so he knew a lot about his probable fate. Because there is a chemical factory in the middle of town. I'm suspicious that his lifetime exposure was the cause. . . Am I on to something?
I’m not a lawyer nor a hematologist. With that being said… you may be onto something worth investigating, but unfortunately it would be very difficult to prove that a particular chemical exposure caused your husband’s multiple myeloma. In most patients doctors cannot identify one specific cause.
There is research linking increased myeloma risk with certain environmental and occupational exposures, including benzene, pesticides, some organic solvents and radiation. So your concern about long-term chemical exposure isn’t unreasonable.
The important question would be what specific chemicals your husband was exposed to, at what concentrations, and for how many years. EPA and state environmental records for the Kingsport facility may help establish what was released historically. That still wouldn’t prove causation in one individual, but it could tell you whether his exposure matches substances that have been associated with myeloma.
If you want to pursue it seriously, I would discuss his exposure history with his hematologist and possibly an occupational/environmental medicine specialist rather than assuming either that the plant caused it or that there’s no possible connection.
Your instincts are worth taking seriously. Myeloma develops when plasma cells in the bone marrow undergo genetic mutations, and environmental exposures — particularly to certain chemicals — are recognized risk factors for triggering those mutations.
Research has identified several workplace and environmental chemicals Show Full Answer
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