A recent study has linked a chemical called 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) to an increased chance of developing multiple myeloma.

MBT has a variety of uses, but it is most commonly used to speed up the process of rubber production. It is considered a high volume chemical in the United States, as over one million pounds of it are produced in the country each year. Previous research had cited this chemical as a possible carcinogen.

This particular study, conducted by the University of Birmingham, examined death rates and cancer diagnoses in former employees at Flexsys, a rubber manufacturing plant in England that produced MBT between the 1930s and 2001.

The researchers studied 2,160 employees who had worked at the plant for at least six months between 1955 and 1984. Of that number, 363 worked jobs that had put them in frequent contact with MBT.

The findings showed that, when compared to national statistics, the employees who had been exposed to MBT were four times as likely to be diagnosed with multiple myeloma. They were also twice as likely to die of large intestine and bladder cancers.

Additionally, after comparing the pool of workers who had been regularly exposed to MBT to those who had not, researchers took note that the risk of developing cancer increased significantly in conjunction with the level of MBT exposure.

Though MBT is no longer produced at Flexsys, there are many other places across the world where it is still used and produced, and researchers are calling for further investigation into this chemical and its carcinogenic potential.

The full article on this study can be found in the January 2009 issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.  A summary of the finding can be found at the BBC Web site.