Brain cancer near Los Alamos
The New Mexico Health Department plans to examine a resident's claim that brain cancer is on the rise in certain neighborhoods near Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The health department reportedly will request $250,000 in funding from the Department of Energy (DOE), but a DOE spokesperson refused to verify the cost of the study. The cancer worries began when a list of 20 alleged Los Alamos brain cancer victims was published. After a local doctor confirmed that nine of the victims had died from primary brain tumors, it was reported that three of them had lived on the same block in Western Area, a section of Los Alamos about a mile from the laboratory. According to statistics collected by the National Cancer Institute, the Los Alamos County rate is several times higher than the average for the state. LANL apparently took the issue seriously. In June it set up a working group cochaired by a local resident and a laboratory employee to investigate the laboratory's operations in Western Area. On 17 July, the working group announced plans for a Los Alamos program costing between $50,000 and $100,000 to sample soil. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is considering participating in the state epidemiologic study, in which health officials plan to track down cancer victims in Los Alamos County and test the area for radioactive contamination.
- OSTI ID:
- 5704835
- Journal Information:
- Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Vol. 253:5020; ISSN 0036-8075
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BRAIN
NEOPLASMS
LANL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
EPIDEMIOLOGY
SOILS
CONTAMINATION
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOINDUCTION
BODY
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
DISEASES
MANAGEMENT
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NERVOUS SYSTEM
ORGANS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
540230* - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
560161 - Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology- Man