NDCA

A worthy investigation

Sunday, March 30, 2008

A TEAM of researchers’ attention to the possibly unusual cluster of cancers and other neurological diseases on the Eastern Shore adds to the disquieting concern that man-caused environmental pollution may have contributed to the health problems.

But as scientists, the researchers appropriately note that their interest in an anomaly doesn’t equal proof that anything unusual is going on.

What’s suspicious is what may be an extraordinary number of adults and children with multiple sclerosis (which usually only attacks in cooler climates), cancers of the brain, blood, bone and certain organs, and other neurological diseases. Medical researchers suspect that such maladies may be caused by a combination of genetic makeup and environmental factors.

Michael Shambaugh-Miller, a medical geographer at the University of Nebraska, pointedly stated during an interview with the Press-Register that the “numbers are jumping out. You shouldn’t have that number of MS cases in that area.”

The data showing the cluster of the diseases were collected by Lesley Pacey and Anna Calhoun over 12 years. Mrs. Pacey’s daughter contracted leukemia at age 4, and her grandmother suffers from a neurological disease.

Indeed, there have been at least six cases of rare childhood leukemia in Fairhope, Point Clear and Daphne since 2001. Two children have died.?he Alabama Department of Public Health has already announced it will be interviewing people in the area to determine whether the data compiled by the Fairhope mothers hold up.

In addition, researchers from the University of Arizona will be coring trees in Fairhope to see if there are unusually high levels of toxic pollutants. They have already tested some leaves from trees in the town and found higher-than-expected levels of chromium, zinc and mercury.

Commendably, Mrs. Pacey and Fairhope Councilwoman Debbie Quinn are setting up a nonprofit group to fund the research.

It’s worth noting that the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta stresses that identifying clusters of disease caused by local environmental hazards remains elusive. The federal agency has studied 100 clusters and found none that clearly were danger zones.

Still, it’s understandable that the Eastern Shore families want to know why their children and other relatives have rare diseases. Here’s hoping the studies by the researchers and the health department can give them some answers.