WHO Report Links Gasoline to Leukemia, Other Cancers in Children and Adults

Study follows prior findings that exposure to diesel gas exhaust increases lung cancer risks, causing the WHO to name it a known human carcinogen.

Researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO) have found that gasoline and certain oxygenated additives in gasoline products could be causing various types of cancer in adults and children.

The findings were announced in a press release published by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) late last month.

The organization conducted a study, which will be published in Volume 138 of the journal IARC Monographs, which determined that gasoline and certain chemicals added to gasoline can be linked to cases of leukemia in children and adults, as well as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other cancers in adults.

The study was conducted by IARC researchers based in Lyon, France, who looked at evidence in both humans and animals, linking gasoline and certain gasoline additives to various forms of cancer.

The team, led by Michelle C. Turner, determined that gasoline can cause urinary bladder cancer and acute myeloid leukemia in adults. There was also evidence demonstrating that gasoline could cause lymphoblastic leukemia in children, as well as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes, stomach cancer and kidney cancer in adults.         

In addition, the researchers examined the cancer-causing properties of certain oxygenated gasoline additives, including methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE), tert-butyl alcohol (TBA), diisopropyl ether (DIPE), and tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME).

MTBE and ETBE were both found to be possibly cancerous to humans, while TBA, DIPE and TAME were found not to be cancerous. However, the team determined that evidence regarding cancer in humans for all of the oxygenated gasoline additives was inadequate.

Gasoline Cancer Risks

This is not the first time that gasoline and other fuel products have been associated with cancer risks in recent years.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously associated diesel exhaust with an increased risk of lung cancer, and there is also evidence suggesting a potential link to bladder cancer. Consequently, the WHO has categorized diesel exhaust fumes alongside other well-known carcinogens, such as radiation and cigarettes.

In the years following that study, the U.S. government has faced multiple lawsuits due to its contamination of groundwater with fuel products at Red Hill Underground Storage Facility in Hawaii.

These lawsuits allege that the U.S. government was negligent and failed to disclose two separate jet fuel leaks that contaminated drinking and bathing water near Honolulu, exposing nearly 100,000 local military families and residents to risks of serious injury.

In addition, New York City received a $104.7 million payout from Exxon Mobile in 2009, after filing a lawsuit alleging the oil company had contaminated five wells in the borough of Queens with MTBE. At the time, it was pointed out that MTBE was known to cause cancer in animals, although no adverse human health effects had been found.