Workers Died of Dyes: The Discovery of Occupational Bladder Cancers

Abstract

Bladder cancer has been linked with well-known carcinogens. It is estimated that nearly 27% of global bladder cancer deaths are attributed to smoking.1 High arsenic levels in drinking water, some medications, and Schistosoma haematobium infection are examples of other environmental risk factors.2 Well-known occupational carcinogens include aromatic amines (eg, benzidine, α-Naphthylamine, ß-Naphthylamine, etc.).3 The history of the discovery of these occupational carcinogens is paradoxically not well-acknowledged in contemporary urology literature.