Railroad herbicide exposure and cancer

One study tracked 348 Swedish railroad workers who had contact with herbicides, following them through October 1978. Deaths from tumors ran higher than expected in this group, and the updated report backed up the earlier finding of too many tumors.

The biggest excess showed up in workers who, during the study's earlier years, had contact with both amitrol and phenoxy acids, which are two types of weed killer. That combination seemed to hit workers the hardest.

No single kind of tumor stood out, though the group included three stomach cancers and three lung cancers. The study's authors said it is still fairly unclear which chemical was responsible.

These results line up with animal research and with studies of other people. The authors urged that amitrol and phenoxy acids be handled with care, calling them increasingly suspect as potential cancer-causing agents.

Back in March of 2015, the cancer research agency of the World Health Organization classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans, meaning it can probably cause cancer in people. Seventeen experts from 11 countries looked at roughly 1,000 studies.

Several studies of people exposed to glyphosate at work, including farmers, found higher cancer rates. The connection was with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, an immune system cancer, and it held across different places and time periods. A large US study covering over 50,000 farmers and pesticide applicators turned up no connection, though the agency pointed to its short follow-up period as a weakness.

Certain herbicides, insecticides, and benzene also appear on the American Cancer Society list of possible risk factors for this lymphoma. The group notes that scientists are still studying these chemicals.

Chemical exposure is not the only thing doctors consider. The American Cancer Society says these factors matter too:

• Age, because most cases arise in people 60 and up
• Male sex
• Having a sibling, parent, or child who has had the disease
• An immune system that has been weakened, such as by HIV
• Past radiation treatment or some chemotherapy drugs

State workers' compensation does not cover railroad workers. Instead, they recover their losses from the railroad through the Federal Employers' Liability Act, or FELA. Under the law, the railroad is liable if its negligence played even a partial role in an injury.

The Supreme Court has held that even the smallest contribution of negligence by the railroad is enough. FELA reaches slowly developing work diseases too, not just accidents.

Even a worker who shares some of the blame can recover, though the damages are reduced by that portion. Recoverable damages include medical bills, wages lost in the past and in the future, and pain and suffering. When a worker has died, the personal representative brings the claim for the benefit of the worker's widow or widower and children.

A former track foreman filed suit against the Long Island Railroad under FELA on January 15, 2026, in New York federal court. He says he was exposed to glyphosate and diesel fumes on the job, and that the railroad never trained him about the chemicals.

His claims also include poor ventilation, lax supervision, and a lack of protective equipment. His cancer is in remission, yet his doctors put the odds of it coming back at 83%. He is seeking over $200,000.

The deadline to file a FELA case is three years. For an illness that builds up slowly, the three years usually start when the harm from the exposure shows itself.

That timing can decide a case. In a 2026 New Jersey appeal, the court upheld a ruling that a car inspector's claims for his bladder cancer as it existed in 2014 were filed too late, since his doctor had linked the cancer to his work in May 2014 but he filed in April 2019.