Dioxin Spot in Mich. Could Be Worst Ever

[waltky]

Remember Times Beach, MO.?

Nov 26, 2007 -- A find of dioxin at the bottom of the Saginaw River could be the highest level of such contamination ever discovered in the nation's rivers and lakes, according to a federal scientist involved in cleanup efforts downstream from a Dow Chemical Co. plant.

A crew testing the Saginaw and Tittabawassee rivers discovered the sample, which measured 1.6 million parts of dioxin per trillion of water, The Saginaw News and The Detroit News reported last week. That level is about 20 times higher than any other find recorded in the EPA archives.

"There may be more surprises out there," said Milton Clark, a health and science expert for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "I'd be surprised if there's not more surprises out there." State guidelines require corrective action on contamination above 1,000 parts per trillion. Dioxins are toxic byproducts of the manufacture of chlorine-based products, and some have been linked to cancer and other health problems.

Michigan health officials were worried enough about last week's announcement that they extended a fish consumption advisory already in effect for the Tittabawassee River - a Saginaw River tributary that winds through Dow's plant in Midland - to include the entire Saginaw River and a portion of Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay, where both rivers' water ends up.

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[waltky]

Killing cancer tumors with radio waves...

The Kanzius Machine: A Cancer Cure?
April 13, 2008 - Inventor Tells 60 Minutes He Hopes To Live Long Enough To See Machine Cure Humans

What if we told you that a guy with no background in science or medicine-not even a college degree-has come up with what may be one of the most promising breakthroughs in cancer research in years? Well it's true, and if you think it sounds improbable, consider this: he did it with his wife's pie pans and hot dogs.

His name is John Kanzius, and he's a former businessman and radio technician who built a radio wave machine that has cancer researchers so enthusiastic about its potential they're pouring money and effort into testing it out. Here's the important part: if clinical trials pan out-and there's still a long way to go-the Kanzius machine will zap cancer cells all through your body without the need for drugs or surgery and without side effects. None at all. At least that's the idea.

The last thing John Kanzius thought he'd ever do was try to cure cancer. A former radio and television executive from Pennsylvania, he came to Florida to enjoy his retirement. "I have no business being in the cancer business. It’s not something that a layman like me should be in, it should be left to doctors and research people," he told correspondent Lesley Stahl. "But sometimes it takes an outsider," Stahl remarked. "Sometimes it just - maybe you get lucky," Kanzius replied.

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[waltky]

Another cancer hotspot...

Cancer Cluster Confirmed In Pa. Region
Aug. 26, 2008 - Residents Northwest Of Philadelphia Four Times As Likely To Develop Rare Blood Cancer

Nearly a year after federal epidemiologists first sounded the alarm over a cluster of rare blood cancers in northeastern Pennsylvania, their research has zeroed in on a hardscrabble region 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia that is home to several Superfund sites and a power plant fired by waste coal. The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said Monday that it confirmed an elevated number of cases of polycythemia vera, or PV, in a 20-mile stretch between Hazleton and Tamaqua. It remains the first and only cluster of PV ever recorded in the United States, though the condition became reportable to state cancer registries only in 2001, and officials said it's statistically likely there are others.

Residents in the affected area were four times as likely to suffer from PV as residents living in outlying areas, according to the government. Researchers cautioned, though, that their investigation was not designed to uncover an environmental link to PV, a cancer that results in the overproduction of red blood cells and can lead to heart attack or stroke. PV's cause is unknown. "We don't want to give the message that there are no connections," said researcher Vince Seaman. "We just don't have the data."

Some residents blame their illnesses on a recycler that accepted hundreds of thousands of gallons of paint sludge, waste oils, used solvents, PCBs, cyanide, pesticides and many other known or suspected carcinogens. Environmental officials shut down the site in 1979, and it was later placed on the federal Superfund list and cleaned up. Other Superfund sites dot the area, too, along with a power plant that burns waste coal that some residents also suspect has caused health problems. Researchers said they confirmed 33 cases of PV in Luzerne, Carbon and Schuylkill counties. That was a slightly lower number than they reported last October at the conclusion of their preliminary investigation into the cluster. The agency revealed its latest findings at a community meeting in Hazleton on Monday night.

Researchers said they found that Pennsylvania does not accurately report the number of PV cases statewide. That's because the criteria for diagnosing the illness have changed and because PV is reported only by hospitals. Seaman said inaccurate PV reporting is also likely a problem in other states. U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter announced Monday that the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $262,000 for a planned Drexel University investigation into the cluster. The funding has yet to clear the full Senate. "It is clear that more research is necessary to pinpoint the reasons for this cluster, including whether environmental contaminants are a factor," Specter said in a statement.

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