In December 2009, plaintiffs’ decedent William Lopez, 60, was diagnosed with myelodysplasia syndrome (MDS), a blood disease. Despite aggressive treatment, including chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, the disease evolved into acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a blood cancer. He was diagnosed with the cancer in January 2012, at age 62. He died in March 2012. Between 1969 and 1987, Lopez had been employed as an offset printing press operator at Nu-Art Publishers/Pacific Thermographers, in Chatsworth. Between 1989 and 2009, he operated his own offset printing business, Bill Lopez Printing. During his 40 years as an offset printer, he used oil-based inks and a deglazing solvent distributed by Van Son Holland Ink Corp. of America. Lopez’s widow, three adult children, and four minor grandchildren alleged that Lopez’s MDS and AML were caused by occupational exposure to the chemical compound benzene, which originated from printing products he used throughout his career. Benzene is a carcinogen that has been established as capable of causing AML. Lopez’s widow, children, and grandchildren sued multiple companies that allegedly manufactured and/or distributed inks and pressroom chemical products that Lopez used. All of the companies settled prior to trial, except for Van Son Holland Ink Corp. of America. At trial, plaintiff’s counsel focused solely on Lopez’s exposure to the oil-based inks and deglazing solvent distributed by Van Son Holland Ink Corp. Counsel contended that Lopez’s AML was caused by the benzene found in the petroleum-based printing products distributed by the company. Plaintiff’s counsel argued that the products were defective because Van Son Holland Ink Corp. had failed to test them for benzene and had failed to warn of the hazards of the chemical. Counsel also argued that the company had also failed to identify benzene in its material safety data sheets, in violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Hazard Communication Standard, which requires chemical manufacturers to develop and disseminate information about the hazards of chemicals they make or import. Moreover, counsel argued that the products failed to perform as safely as an ordinary commercial pressman would have expected, and that the inherent risks of the products outweighed any potential benefits. Defense counsel denied that Van Son Holland Ink’s products were defective or that the company had inadequately warned of any health hazards. Van Son Holland Ink Corp. stated that its oil-based inks and the chemical solvent do not use benzene as a component ingredient and that even if there were undetectable levels of benzene in petroleum-based products, such levels do not present a substantial danger to persons using the products. It claimed that it relied on findings from 1978 by the National Association of Print Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM) and OSHA that printing inks and pressroom chemicals may potentially contain trace levels of benzene contaminants, but that such levels did not present a substantial risk of injury to printers. It also claimed that it relied on a 1996 report, Printing Processes and Printing Inks, published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which determined that there was inadequate evidence showing that printing inks and pressroom chemicals are carcinogenic. Van Son Holland Ink Corp. argued that its petroleum-based products are useful and that their designs are necessary to achieve product performance during offset printing processes. The company believed that its products did not cause cancer and that providing cancer warnings would distract users from other important safety and health warning information provided., In December 2009, at the age of 60, Lopez was diagnosed with MDS. In 2011, he started taking chemotherapy drugs, and in September 2011, he had a bone marrow transplant. On Jan. 31, 2012, at the age of 62, he was diagnosed with AML. He died in March 2012. The Lopez family’s expert in occupational medicine opined that Lopez’s were caused by benzene exposure. Counsel for the family contended that Lopez’s exposure to benzene originating from the deglazing solvent would have exceeded 0.1 parts per million throughout the three minute use of the product, and that Lopez likely used the product up to 100 times per day throughout his 40-year work history. The family also asserted that the presence of five benzene-related blood conditions of macrocytosis, pancytopenia, trisomy 8, MDS, and AML conclusively established that Lopez’s illness was caused by occupational exposures to benzene. Thus, the Lopez family sought recovery of $778,874 in medical expenses and $4,817.44 in funeral expenses. They also sought recovery of $5 million in compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages for the alleged conscious disregard of workers’ health in light of the alleged 100-year well-documented history of benzene carcinogenicity. In addition, the Lopez family sought recovery of wrongful death damages. They claimed that the family was close and saw each other on the weekends, especially during football season, when they would watch Oakland Raiders’ games together. Lopez’s wife, who had worked in the school district for over 30 years, has been on disability since 2012 due to a knee replacement. Counsel for Van Son Holland Ink Corp. contended that Lopez’s exposure to benzene, if any, would not have exceeded ambient levels. Thus, counsel argued that Lopez’s exposure to Van Son Holland Ink Corp. products did not cause his blood disease and that the cause of Lopez’s illness was unknown, as there were multiple contributing risk factors. Van Son Holland Ink Corp.’s experts opined that a conservative dose level of at least 40 ppm-years is required to entertain the possibility of benzene-induced AML. As to Lopez’s five blood conditions, the experts testified that such conditions could theoretically be induced by extremely high-level exposures to benzene over an extended period of time, but that Lopez was not exposed to high benzene levels for any period of time. The experts further opined that such blood conditions could appear in persons with no occupational exposures to benzene and that the presence of blood conditions is not indicative of benzene exposure.