Five more subway maintenance workers diagnosed with blood cancer, bringing total to 13

Five additional maintenance workers at Seoul Metro have been diagnosed with blood cancers, bringing the total number of known cases at the agency to 13, officials said Wednesday.

The latest cases include two workers who have already died, raising new concerns over workplace safety and potential long-term exposure to carcinogenic substances.

The workers, who were responsible for maintaining electric railcars on Lines 1 through 8, were found to have leukemia or lymphoma, both types of blood cancer.

All five had performed core maintenance tasks such as dismantling, cleaning, repairing, welding, grinding and repainting trains over several years. The findings follow the discovery last year that eight other workers had been similarly diagnosed.

According to a recent report submitted to Seoul Metro by the Korea National Open University’s industry-academic cooperation team, which conducted an investigation beginning in December 2023, two of the five newly identified workers died from acute leukemia.

One, born in 1970, joined the company in 1993 and was diagnosed in 2009 after years of maintenance work. He retired in 2012 at just 42 years old. Another, born in 1960, was diagnosed the same year and retired in 2011. The remaining three are still employed.

The new findings emerged through a study of 4,438 current and former employees in the vehicle maintenance division. Despite the diagnoses, none of the five had filed for workers’ compensation.

“Many of them did not disclose their illness, making it hard to confirm,” a Seoul Metro official said. “We only found out about the two deceased through surveys and retiree networks.”

With the latest additions, 11 out of the 13 workers affected belong to the vehicle maintenance division. The university research team cited benzene, a chemical used in cleaning and painting processes, as a likely factor.

Though banned by Seoul Metro since 2011, benzene exposure may have continued in painting jobs until as recently as 2022. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies benzene as a Group 1 carcinogen, known to cause blood cancers.

Despite the concerning pattern, the study did not find statistically significant evidence that vehicle maintenance workers face a higher blood cancer risk than the general population.

Seoul Metro said it would cover medical expenses and legal fees for workers seeking industrial accident compensation. It also plans to conduct regular blood tests and clinical exams every six months for employees exposed to benzene.

Additional safety upgrades at train depots are expected, and a comprehensive response plan will be released by next month.

The company’s task force on blood cancer, initially set to end this month, will now be extended through December to finalize safety improvements and follow-up measures.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.