By Rick Shapiro, FELA Lawyer in Virginia

Results from a recent study conducted to address the potential connection between exposure to carcinogens and the increased risk of developing leukemia or lymphoma show that 13 workers at Samsung computer chip plants died of leukemia or lymphoma. Another 26 current or former employees who came into contact with toxic and cancer-causing substances are also struggling with those blood cancers, according to Yahoo News.

Samsung decided to commission the study to help quell public fears that the company was exposing its workers to toxic, deadly chemicals and fumes. This is why it comes as no surprise that the results of the study point to no connection between the workers’ exposure to chemicals on the job and their illnesses. Obviously, this is not a definitive study on the potential connection between carcinogens and blood cancers like lymphoma and leukemia. In fact, plenty of other studies indicate a direct connection between toxic fume exposure and the development of deadly cancers.

As a FELA lawyer who has represented numerous railroad workers who were exposed to toxic diesel exhaust fumes or asbestos and developed mesothelioma and other deadly cancers, I can tell you the connection between the two is strong. These workers are exposed to some awful chemicals, including large amounts formaldehyde, and radiation.

In fact, I recently obtained an $8.6 million jury verdict for a rail worker who lost his life to lung cancer after being exposed to diesel exhaust fumes, radioactive scrap, and asbestos for years.

There is a good chance other studies will be published, hopefully from sources with less of a conflict of interest, which contradict the Samsung study and provide proof that workers are developing deadly blood cancers, and other cancers, from workplac exposure to lethal chemicals and fumes.

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About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm whose attorneys have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases.  Attorneys will our firm have served as chairmen of the Railroad section of the American Association for Justice. One of our attorneys wrote a major attorney’s encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC, and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern United States. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, such as Dos and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.

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