May 10 (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania jury ordered

ExxonMobil ( XOM ) to pay $725.5 million to a former mechanic who

claimed toxic chemicals in the company's gasoline and solvents

caused his cancer, according to attorneys for the plaintiff.

The 10-2 verdict came on Thursday, attorneys said, after a

trial in a state court in Philadelphia, where former mechanic

Paul Gill alleged he was exposed to benzene in ExxonMobil ( XOM )

products while working at a gas station between 1975 and 1980.

Following the trial that lasted just over a week, the jury

found Exxon liable for negligently failing to warn about the

health risks of benzene, which the U.S. Environmental Protect

Agency (EPA) has classified as a known carcinogen. The entire

verdict was in compensatory damages, according to Gill's

attorneys.

An Exxon spokesperson called the verdict "irrational" and

said the company would ask the court to reverse it, and that it

planned to "exhaust all available appeals."

The 67-year-old former mechanic said in his 2020 lawsuit

that he used petroleum products to clean car parts with his bare

hands, which exposed him to benzene through direct skin contact

and inhalation.

He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a type of

blood cancer, in 2019.

"This verdict is important because it's a finding that their

gasoline causes cancer," said Patrick Wigle, an attorney for

Gill, in a statement. "ExxonMobil ( XOM ) has known for decades that

benzene causes cancer, yet they resisted warning the public and

taking basic precautions to warn the public and limit exposure."

Benzene is widely used in the United States in motor fuels,

as a solvent for resins and plastics, and for other industrial

purposes.

The EPA, which limits the amount of benzene that is

acceptable in fuels, says it also can be found in emissions from

burning coal and oil, from car exhaust and from evaporation at

gas stations, among other things.