MEDICAL RESEARCHERS DRAW LINK BETWEEN LOCAL POLYCYTHEMIA VERA EPIDEMIC, SUPERFUND SITE

The American Society of Hematology's annual meeting and expo will open in Atlanta on Saturday, and the abstract for Monday's session on the local three-county polycythemia vera study has been posted online. Apparently the researchers believe they have found a connection between the high local occurrence of the rare blood malignancy and the McAdoo Associates Superfund site, as evidenced by this excerpt (bold emphasis mine):

Of the 37 cases who met both clinical and molecular criteria (JAK2V617F+) for a diagnosis of PV, 18 (49%) had resided within a 13 mile radius of the McAdoo Associates Superfund Site (MASS) for >5 years during the period 1970-95. The MASS was the home of a hazardous waste recycling business from 1975-79 where large quantities of toxic chemicals were dumped directly into old mine shafts.The Environmental Protection Agency completed surface remediation in the early 90s, but was unable to determine the extent and fate of the chemicals poured into the mine. A spatial scan statistical analysis identified this area as a significant cluster and individuals living within this area had a 4.5 times greater risk of developing PV compared to individuals residing in the remainder of the 3 counties (p<0.001).

That seems to contradict what the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry stated in its press release about the study's findings: "The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) confirmed 38 cases of polycythemia vera (PV) in Schuylkill, Luzerne and Carbon counties. ATSDR found no link between environmental factors and PV in this area." It also contradicts what U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) wrote in his Oct. 22 letter to ATSDR and the Pa. Department of Health following his briefing on the findings: "I am heartened by the study's findings that there are no environmental or occupational causes for the disease ... ."

Why didn't the ATSDR and PADOH give us this information at the Oct. 24 public meeting in Hazleton, or since then? Are they trying to keep those of us whose health may have been damaged by the site from knowing the truth? And now that the truth is out, what will our elected leaders such as Specter and our public health agencies do to help us?