Hypothesis of Origin

I have had a lot of time to ponder just why I am a victim of this disease.  I mentioned earlier, my childhood exposure to lead.  Most of the literature about AML does not say much about exposure to heavy metals as a trigger or cause for Leukemia.  All of the theories about the causes of AML are only speculative.  

  The most frequent culprit that is cited as a potential cause of AML is exposure to Benzene.  Benzene is an organic chemical compound.  It is one of the most common and interesting chemical compounds that students learn about in Organic Chemistry.  The formula C6 H6 in a six sided  ring is a basic building block for millions of other chemicals. Just remove a hydrogen or two and add some other shrubbery to the ring and you have another chemical compound.  Organic chemists love the stuff.  It is also a known carcinogen.  

  I have been exposed to benzene through gasoline and many other industrial solvents .  When I was a younger cyclist I used to use gas as a solvent to clean my bike.  I don't remember ever wearing gloves.  Because I liked my bike clean, I probably exposed myself to a lot more benzene than anyone else in the general population.  I more often would buy solvent instead of gas.  I often bought solvent in bulk from the local Beacon station.  Solvent was less volatile but most likely had just as much benzene as gasoline.  

 I also used a lot of "White Gas" for my campstove.  

  I phased out the use of solvent and gas for cleaning my bike by the mid 1980s but by then I had used it a lot for at least ten years.  

  Now about 25 years later, the exposure to all that benzene may have finally caught up with me.  I was young and dumb.  I felt immortal.  Benzene my have been my culprit but maybe not.  It is only speculative.  There is also the chance that there was a genetic component that brought on the AML.  We will never know.