ATSDR -- FY 1999 AGENCY PROFILE AND ANNUAL REPORT
In comparison with average state rates, the number of newly diagnosed
cancers in the total study population was not higher than expected for all
cancer combined or any of the 11 type-specific cancer groupings. The U.S.
Radium area had significantly lower total cancer incidence, while the
Welsbach/General Gas Mantle areas had significantly higher total cancer
incidence and total cancer incidence in males. The higher total cancer incidence
for the Welsbach sites appears to be due to significantly higher lung cancer
incidence in this population. While total cancer incidence was unremarkable
for the Montclair/West Orange Radium sites, total pancreatic cancer and
thyroid cancer incidences among females were significantly higher than
expected.
When the study area was reduced to the areas closest to the sites (about
one city block), only one SIR remained significant. Lung cancer incidence for
the total population near the Welsbach/General Gas Mantle sites remained
significantly higher than expected. SIRs for the closest areas were similar to
those for the total areas, but these were based on smaller observed and
expected numbers. Only two cases of thyroid cancer were diagnosed among
residents of the closest area; neither of the two patients resided near the
Montclair/West Orange sites.
These data should be interpreted cautiously. The study design had
numerous limitations, including the inability to assess past individual
exposure levels, the lack of knowledge about the length of residence for case
subjects, the potential impact of population migration, and the absence of
information on other risk factors, such as occupational exposures or personal
lifestyle habits.
In conclusion, this study found little consistency in the results across the
study areas.
Lung cancer incidence was significantly elevated near the Welsbach/
General Gas Mantle sites, and total pancreatic cancer incidence and incidence
of thyroid cancer in females were significantly elevated near the Montclair/
West Orange sites. However, information on important confounding factors
that might explain the elevations was not available for the analysis.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma incidence elevated among males
Cancer Occurrence by Common Drinking Water Source, Broome
County, New York, 19811990. The New York State Department of Health
conducted this health statistics review to assess cancer statistics in Broome
County for 1981 through 1990. The county's drinking water supplies were
previously found to contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at levels
exceeding the state drinking water guidelines. These water supplies were
either treated or taken out of service. A previous study in 1986 evaluated the
number of cancer cases occurring from 1976 through 1980 in areas of the county
in which drinking water had been contaminated. This early study found no
consistent patterns of elevated levels of cancer occurrence in the study areas.
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