Multiple myeloma in railroad workers

According to the American Cancer Society, contact with radiation or certain chemicals may raise the chance of multiple myeloma. It also notes some evidence that certain herbicides, or weed killers, are linked to a higher risk. It points to a 2024 study of myeloma deaths in nuclear workers who had low-level radiation exposure.

Benzene is a clear or pale-yellow liquid found in gasoline, as well as in certain glues, cleaning products, and paint strippers. People mostly absorb it by breathing it in. Benzene is linked to leukemia and other blood-related illnesses.

Back in 2001, a review combined past studies that compared people who had multiple myeloma with people who did not, focusing on what they inhaled at work. The researchers divided benzene-related exposures into four categories.

Workers exposed to engine exhaust were noticeably more likely to have myeloma. Exposure to petroleum products, or to benzene and other solvents, showed no clear link.

The researchers concluded that benzene by itself probably isn't what raises the risk of myeloma. They proposed that other toxic chemicals in engine exhaust could explain the association, and they asked for more detailed research on what workers breathed on the job.

Myeloma is seen more often as people get older, and most are at least 65 at diagnosis. Under 1% of cases are diagnosed before age 35. It is a little more common in men than in women, and it occurs more than twice as often in Black people as in White people.

Having a parent or sibling with myeloma increases risk, though most people diagnosed have no relatives with the disease. People with prior blood conditions called MGUS or solitary plasmacytoma also have increased risk.

While most American workers use state workers' compensation, railroad workers are not covered that way. They seek their losses from the railroad through FELA. The law holds a railroad responsible when its carelessness causes injury or death in whole or in part.

The railroad's negligence need only have played a small part in causing the illness, but the claim still needs to show that connection. The Supreme Court has explained that a jury may hear the case when railroad negligence had any part, even the slightest in causing it, and that a share no matter how small is still enough. The Court held in Urie v. Thompson that FELA includes slowly developing occupational diseases, not just sudden accidents.

A worker is not considered to have accepted the risks of the job when railroad negligence helped bring on the illness. A railroad rule cannot keep workers from freely sharing information about a workplace injury or death; a rule like that is void.

A FELA lawsuit must be filed within three years, in either federal or state court. With an illness that builds slowly, the Supreme Court has said the three years begin once the effects of the exposure show themselves. That can be earlier than you'd expect, so it's worth checking your dates soon rather than waiting.

Missing that deadline can end the case. A New Jersey appeals court, in January 2026, left in place the dismissal of the bladder cancer claim brought by a car inspector. His doctor connected the cancer to work in May 2014, yet the April 2019 filing came too late.

The free review is handled by a law firm that takes FELA cases for railroad workers and advertises on this site. You can reach it by phone or through the short form. Calls might be recorded so the attorney's office can keep a clear work-history record. The reviewer will ask about:

1. Which railroads employed the worker, when, and in what roles.
2. Which yards, shops, or lines were part of the job.
3. The diagnosis, and the date a doctor first linked it to the job.