Word: leukemias
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...police radars. Dozens of highway patrolmen have come forward to complain of tumors of the eye, the cheek or the testicles (from jamming radar guns between their legs). And there is a growing body of evidence showing that living near power lines can quadruple the risk of contracting childhood leukemia...
...toxic waste sites in Massachusetts: the state's Department of Environmental Protection lists approximately 2,700 confirmed sites and 2,500 suspected ones. The Cambridge-Boston area alone is home to several hundred toxic sites. In Woburn, about 30 minutes from Cambridge, several lethal toxics-related cases of leukemia among children were reported a few years ago. In Leominster (about 90 minutes away), in an even more publicized case, parents of over 100 autistic children claimed toxics as the cause of their children's disabilities. More generally, over 100 towns in the state have lost all or part of their...
However, the report does have some weaknesses. Childhood cancer is so rare that even such a large study was able to uncover only 142 cases. In the highest exposure groups, the calculation for leukemia risk was based on as few as seven cases. In addition, the Swedes found no increase in malignancies of the brain. "Up to this point the evidence had been stronger for brain tumors," says David Savitz, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina...
...second study looked at 1,632 men in central Sweden, 511 of whom had contracted leukemia or brain tumors. Adjusting for exposures to various other environmental factors, the researchers concluded that, compared with the other men, more of the leukemia patients had occupational exposures to electromagnetic radiation...
...think it will take a long time before we have final proof," Maria Feychting says. But even if the link holds up, she notes, people should not panic: "The risk for leukemia is very small -- 1 out of 20,000 children a year." Reacting too hastily to scientific findings can in itself be hazardous to one's health. Witness the realization that more people may be exposed to asbestos during its removal than if it is merely encased. As for electromagnetic radiation, prudence would suggest that the ideal location for a new day-care center is not next to city...