Cluster 14 Childhood Leukemia

Woburn, Massachusetts, was the location of a cluster of childhood leukemia from 1969-79J2 4l The cluster was associated with contaminated municipal well drinking water that contained the following chemicals  

Though arsenic and chromium have been associated with some cancers, none of these chemicals individually is known to be causative for leukemia. 

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Cluster 1 Childhood Leukemia 468 Cluster 2 Prostate Cancer 468 Clusters 3-6 Testicular Cancer 469 Cluster 7 Brain Cancer Cluster—Electronic Workers 469 Cluster 8 Brain Cancer Cluster—Petrochemical Workers 470 Cluster 9 Brain Cancers in Offspring of Electronic Workers 470 Cluster 10 Kidney Cancer Cluster 471 Cluster 11 Colorectal Cancer Cluster 471 Cluster 12 Multiple Cancer Cluster 471 Cluster 13 Lung Cancer Cluster 472 Cluster 14 Childhood Leukemia 472 Cluster 15 Multiple Cancer Clusters 473 Cluster 16 Toxic Waste Disposal Site-Related Clusters 474... 

A cluster of cases of childhood leukemia has been found in West Cumbria (Forman et al., 1987). As a result, an exhaustive reexamination has been made of the emissions from the Windscale piles and the adjacent Sellafield reprocessing plant, including those before,... 

The limitations of these observations can be described in terms of the general problems associated with such toxic waste studies. The health outcome of concern (cancer, specifically childhood leukemia) is a relatively rare disease. The toxic chemical exposure of particular persons having these diseases could not be directly documented, since the organic chemicals found in well water were transient. Therefore, no means were available for linking particular leukemia cases to particular toxic substances. For the present, then, we are left with an apparent leukemia case cluster and no good evidence for associating cases with the striking environmental toxic waste problems clearly present in the town. 

Seiler RL. Temporal changes in water quality at a childhood leukemia cluster. Ground Water 2004 42(3) 446-55. 

Children are at greater risk than adults for many cancers. Leukemia and brain cancer account for half of all childhood cancers. The causes of these cancers are often obscure, but research has shown that in utero exposures can start the carcinogenic process that becomes fully manifest after birth. Mixtures of chemicals, most notably tobacco smoke and pesticides, are known causative childhood cancer agents. Other chemical mixtures identified as carcinogenic to children are examined in the next chapter on cancer clusters. 

The subcommittee is aware of a suspected cancer cluster in Fallon, Nevada, and that exposure to JP-8, originating from a naval base located in that town, is under investigation as a possible cause of the cluster (exposures to other chemicals are being investigated as well). Since 1997, sixteen persons currently or previously living in Fallon have been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), a type of childhood cancer. One case of ALL would be expected approximately every 5 yr in Churchill County, where Fallon is located, based on the size of the population (Nevada State Flealth Division 2002). No scientific studies were found that examined a potential relationship between ALL and JP-8 exposure therefore, the subcommittee could not reach any conclusion concerning exposure to JP-8 and this suspected cancer cluster. 

Clusters of childhood cancer have been identified in several locations and suspected in others. Leukemia and brain cancer are the two most prevalent of these cancer clusters in children. The following are examples of these two types of children s cancer clusters. 

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