FEARS that workers are being exposed to cancer-causing chemicals are behind moves to contact 3,000 North-East union members.

Experts have estimated that four per cent of all cancer deaths may be caused by exposure to a cancer-causing substance at work.

The move is an attempt to raise awareness among employees on how exposure to chemicals in the workplace can increase the risk of serious ill health.

A health questionnaire has been sent to all Transport and General Northern Workers' Union members on Teesside, in association with solicitors Archers Law. The aim is to establish a database of confidential information on chemical exposure.

It will help the union and its lawyers to build up a reliable source of information on employees in the region who may be at risk of exposure to cancer-causing chemicals.

Exposure to these chemicals has been linked to increased risk of a number of different cancers including lung cancer, mesothelioma, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, some types of leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

Joe Keith, senior regional industrial organiser for T & G Northern said: "The information we collect will allow us to build up an accurate picture of the true extent of chemical exposure in the workplace, both past and present.

Angela Torrance, a specialist industrial diseases solicitor at Archers Law, said: "We already know that one in ten asbestos-related illnesses occur on Teesside, but there are also wider health implications from other sources of chemical exposure in the region."