Benzene, or C6H6 is a colorless liquid with a smell that defies my ability to describe odors. It's molecule is a ring of 6 carbon atoms with bonds that seem to switch between single and double. Each carbon also has a hydrogen attached to it. Check the the interface page for a basic illustration of what this thing looks like. In both industry and the lab, benzene is used as a solvent. It can dissolve just about anything that water can't. It's also used in gasoline and to manufacture other useful chemicals and drugs.

Benzene is also bad for you. It's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that prolonged exposure to benzene causes leukemia. So don't go sniffing the stuff just to prove you can describe odors better than me.

I believe it causes cancer because it's structure is similar to part of the structure of one of those 4 DNA chemicals. I think its adenine, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, it replaces the actual ring in the protien and you end up with messed up DNA and an increased risk of cancer. So, what's this have to do with me? Absolutely nothing. I just share the name, not the chemical properties. No one reads "about me" pages anyway. If you want to know anything else, you're just going to have to ask.