Ohio Child Cancers Confound Parents, Investigatorsby the Associated Press
Jan 3rd 2011
Tanner Hisey, center, puts icing on Christmas cookies with his sister
Siera, right, and half-sister Tyler Smith in their home near Clyde,
Ohio. Tanner, 12, and Tyler, 17, are among 36 kids who live within a few
miles of this small farming town and have been struck by cancer in the
last decade. Credit: Mark Duncan/AP CLYDE, Ohio (AP) - Every time his kids cough, Dave Hisey's mind starts to race. Is it cancer? Is it coming back?
Hisey is not alone in fearing
the worst. Just about every mom and dad in this rural northern Ohio
town gets nervous whenever their children get a sinus infection or a
stomachache lingers. It's hard not to panic since mysterious cancers
have sickened dozens of area children in recent years.
Since
1996, 35 children have been diagnosed - and three have died - of brain
tumors, leukemia, lymphoma, and other forms of cancer - all within a
12-mile wide circle that includes two small towns and farmland just
south of Lake Erie. With many of the diagnoses coming between 2002 and
2006, state health authorities declared it a cancer cluster, saying the
number and type of diagnoses exceed what would be expected statistically
for so small a population over that time.
"All you think about
is what happened to these kids," said Donna Hisey, 43, the mother whose
family has been devastated by cancer. "Is it gone? Or is it still here?
What is it?!"
After three years of exhaustive investigation, no
cause is known. Investigators have tested wells and public drinking
water, sampled groundwater and air near factories and checked homes,
schools and industries for radiation.
They also set up a network
of air monitors across eastern Sandusky County, finding cleaner air
than in most places around Ohio, the health department said.
Nothing unusual was detected. Not even a hint.
"From the very beginning, we've said the vast majority of childhood
cancer causes aren't known," said Robert Indian, the state health
department's chief of comprehensive cancer control. He'll soon release
yet another investigative report.
Without any answers as to
what's attacking their children, parents are left to question whether
living within a known cancer cluster area is endangering their kids.
Perhaps surprisingly, only a handful have moved away.
"It's in
the back of everybody's mind," said Scott Mahler, who has two healthy
young sons. "Are you going to risk your children's lives by living
here?"
Eight children were diagnosed with cancer in and near
Clyde between 2002-2006, nearly four times the number that state health
experts figure is normal.
Ohio health investigators converged on
the town of just 6,000 people halfway between Cleveland and Toledo and
home to the Whirlpool Corp.'s largest washing machine factory.
What they found was worse than anyone suspected. The cancers affecting
victims age 19 and younger included neighboring townships and much of
the nearby town of Fremont.
One in five of the cancer cases were
related to the brain or central nervous system, matching national
rates, according to the American Cancer Society.
The diagnoses
peaked in 2006, when nine children were told they, too, had cancer.
Since then, there have been four new cases. The most recent came in the
spring this year, when a 7-year-old girl was diagnosed with
rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer of the body's connective tissues.
At first, investigators focused just on Clyde, where social calendars
revolve around school, sports and church. Most families have been here
for generations. It's the kind of place where teens can't wait to leave -
only to find they can't wait to come back to start a family.
Seeing their children afflicted by unexplained illnesses has
strengthened the bond among parents and neighbors instead of scaring
them away.
"Even if it would've happened to my family, I can't
imagine where else I would go to get the support I needed," said Melanie
Overmyer, an English and journalism teacher at Clyde High School.
"People in neighboring towns say 'I can't believe you still live
there,'" said the mother of two. "You can't pick up your life and move
every time there's something that scares you."
Enrollment
numbers at area schools haven't dropped and real estate agents say they
haven't encountered anyone who doesn't want to look for homes in the
area or is desperate to get out.
"Clyde is small enough that we would really know if that was happening," said City Manager Paul Fiser.
Ohio health and environmental regulators have speculated the cause was
environmental and may have come and gone - maybe a chemical from a
factory or a dump that polluted the air or water.
Air and water
samples have not revealed any concerns around the Whirlpool plant or the
Vickery Environmental waste site just outside town, where hazardous
chemicals are injected into rock a half-mile below ground.
And
in September, investigators said they found no radiation from homes,
schools, or industries to link to the illnesses, ruling out the
Davis-Besse nuclear plant, about 20 miles from Clyde, and NASA's former
nuclear reactor near Sandusky as a possible source.
Doctors also
have been vigilant, making sure they're not missing any signs or
symptoms in young patients. And parents are more likely to bring their
kids in for checkups instead of waiting for an illness to go away.
"You still have to treat common things first," said Dr. Daniel Herring, who has a family practice in Clyde.
"But it's definitely one of the things we worry about more."
What's stumped investigators is the lack of any common threads among
the children - all of them don't live in the same neighborhood, go to
the same school or drink from the same water. They don't all have the
same type of cancer or even parents who work at the same factory.
State health officials have spent recent months asking the sick
children and their families dozens of questions about their homes and
health histories, hoping to find a link. A report due soon will reveal
whether they found any connections among all or some of the children,
Indian said.
Some parents think it's likely that investigators will never identify a cause.
In a way, it's not a surprise.
Pinpointing the cause of a cancer cluster rarely - if ever - happens.
During the 1960s and '70s, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention investigated 108 cancer clusters around the United States,
most of them childhood leukemia. But they found no definite causes for
any of them.
The CDC has since allowed states to take the lead
investigating almost all suspected clusters while still offering some
oversight, as the federal agency is doing in Ohio.
The outbreak
around Clyde is only 50 miles north of another cluster that Ohio health
officials spent four years investigating. Beginning in the late 1990s,
nine former students from River Valley High School in Marion were
diagnosed with leukemia.
Tests found toxic chemicals in
schoolyard soil and students were relocated to new buildings miles away.
Investigators never definitively linked the cancers to the old school
site, a former World War II Army depot where wastes and solvents were
dumped and burned.
The nation's most intensive investigation
ever of a cancer cluster began nine years ago in western Nevada and
remains inconclusive. Hundreds of state and federal experts have spent
millions investigating the leukemia that sickened 17 children and killed
three between 1997 and 2004.
Some parents of Clyde area's sick
children question whether the state's inquiry has been thorough enough.
They point out that there's been no soil testing or requests for experts
from CDC to join the investigation.
"Why haven't they brought
all minds to the table?" said Warren Brown, whose 11-year-old daughter,
Alexa, died of brain cancer in August 2009. "Why not throw everything at
it?"
Investigators insist they've ignored nothing. Soil testing
wouldn't reveal any answers, they said, because the sick children come
from a widespread area and all would have needed to come in contact with
contaminated dirt.
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
Director Christopher Korleski said the state has consulted with federal
health officials throughout the investigation and that they've signed
off on the steps Ohio has taken.
The investigation is his top priority.
"It is disappointing and frustrating to not know," said Korleski.
Brown wishes there were somebody to blame.
He's been careful not to point fingers and doesn't want the town to
suffer. But he also said he wouldn't hold back if something here was the
cause.
"I'd be yelling at the top of my lungs to leave town," he said. "I can't do that."
Brandy Kreider, a mother of five children, said she and her husband
spent an agonizing week and sleepless nights wondering if they were
making a mistake before buying a new home in town two years ago. In the
end, leaving didn't feel right.
"Those things don't want to make us retreat," she said. "They bring us together."
The Hiseys faced the same question almost five years ago when daughter
Tyler Smith, who's now 17, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
They put their house up for sale even though it had everything they
wanted: ponds for fishing, a woods for hunting and plenty of space.
They're now glad it didn't sell.
The outdoors surrounding their
home has become a sanctuary for Tanner, 12, diagnosed with acute
lymphoblastic leukemia two years after his sister was sickened.
Chemotherapy has kept him out of school most of this year so home is
where he spends much of his time. It's where he can catch catfish, watch
deer romp across the fields and still be a kid.
"Everything
else has been taken away," his father said. "We can't take their
support, their comfort and their home away from them. End of Associated Press Story Here is a clue for the people of Clyde: List of 42 FCC Registered Antenna Towers in/near Clyde, Ohio as of 2013 Note: This list does not include: AM/FM radio antennas, digital TV facilities nor non-registered Wi-antennas in the area.
1. Tom C. Miller, 113 1 Km To Sr 101 5 Km Se (Lat: 41.256389 Lon: -82.958333), Type: 59.4, Overall height: 59m Registrant: 9043325965, 5220 BELFORT ROAD, SUITE 300
2. Toni DeFreece, 1337 East Sr 20 (Lat: 41.300583 Lon: -82.945944), Type: 60.0, Overall height: 57 m Registrant: 8772656872, 6391 SPRINT PARKWAY
3. David A Kirk, 1337 East Sr 20 (Lat: 41.300583 Lon: -82.945944), Type: 60.0, Overall height: 57 m Registrant: 8772656872, 6391 SPRINT PARKWAY
4. Christopher B Page, 5208 County Road 175 (Lat: 41.304611 Lon: -82.932111), Type: 80.4,Overall height: 76.2 m Registrant: 8472401508, 1101 PERIMETER DRIVE STE 700
5. Tim McDougall, 5208 County Road 175 (Lat: 41.304611 Lon: -82.932111), Type: 80.4,Overall height: 76.2 m Registrant: 6175857600, , 116 HUNTINGTON AVE. 6. Christopher B Page, 5208 County Road 175 (Lat. 41.3004611 Lon: 82.932111) Type: 80.4, Overall height: 76.2 meters, Registrant, 8472401508, 1101 PERIMETER DRIVE, STE 700.
6. Christopher B Page, 5208 County Road 175 (Lat: 41.304611 Lon: -82.932111), Type: 80.4,Overall height: 76.2 m
Registrant: 8472401508, 1101 PERIMETER DRIVE STE 700 7. TOM C MILLER, Cr 113 1 Km To Sr 101 5 Km Se (Lat: 41.256389 Lon: -82.958333), Type: 59.4, Overall height: 59 m Registrant: 9043325965, 5220 BELFORT ROAD, SUITE 300
8. Stacy M Kwiatkowski, 5208 County Road 175 (Lat: 41.303889 Lon: -82.934167), Type:78.9, Overall height: 76.2 m, Registrant: 7034334000, , 2001 EDMUND HALLEY DRIVE.
9. Joan A Sager, Clyde (Lat: 41.377250 Lon: -82.995250), Type: 80.8, Overall height:73.2 m Registrant: 8139153564, 3450 BUSCHWOOD PARK DR. STE. 25010. Joan A Sager, Clyde (Lat: 41.377250 Lon: -82.995250), Type: 80.8, Registrant: 8139153564, , 3450 BUSCHWOOD PARK DR. STE. 250 11. Joan A Sager, Clyde (Lat: 41.377111 Lon: -82.994611), Type: 75.9, Overall height: 73.2 m Registrant: 8139153564, 3450 BUSCHWOOD PARK DR. STE. 250
12. Joan A Sager, Clyde (Lat: 41.377111 Lon: -82.994611), Type: 75.9, Overall height: 73.2 m Registrant: 8139153564, 3450 BUSCHWOOD PARK DR. STE. 250
13. Stormy M Seibt, Clyde (Lat: 41.377111 Lon: -82.994611), Type: 75.9, Overall height: 73.2 mm Registrant: 8472401508, 1101 PERIMETER DR. STE#225
14. Vielka M Gabriel, 5208 County Road 175 (Lat: 41.303889 Lon: -82.934167), Type 78.9,Overall height: 76.2 m Registrant: 9194656649, 100 REGENCY FOREST DRIVE, SUITE 400
15. STEVEN A SLUSHER, Township Road 220 (Lat: 41.295833 Lon: -83.033889), Type: 13.1,Overall height: 12.2 meters Registrant: 8003402743,1237 DUBLIN ROAD
16. STEVEN A SLUSHER, Township Road 220 (Lat: 41.295833 Lon: -83.033889), Type: 13.1,Overall height: 12.2 meters, Registrant: 8003402743, 1237 DUBLIN ROAD
17. Roger Hammill, Sandusky County Regional Airport (Lat: 41.295806 Lon: -83.033750), Type:10.1, Overall height: 10 m, Registrant: 4195473220, , 1500 COUNTY ROAD 220 18. Steven A Slusher, Township Road 220 (Lat: 41.295833 Lon: -83.033889), Type: 10.1,Overall height: 9.2 m Registrant: 8003402743, 1237 DUBLIN ROAD
19. Tamie Ramsey, 5208 County Road 175 (Lat: 41.303889 Lon: -82.934167), Type: 78.9,Overall height: 76.2 mRegistrant: 9194656649, 100 REGENCY FOREST DRIVE, SUITE 400
20. Steven A Slusher, Township Road 220 (Lat: 41.295833 Lon: -83.033889), Type: 10.1,Overall height: 9.2 m Registrant: 8003402743, 1237 DUBLIN ROAD
21. Steven A Slusher, Township Road 220 (Lat: 41.294889 Lon: -83.033778), Type: 10.1,Overall height: 9.2 m Registrant: 8003402743, 1237 DUBLIN ROAD
22. Daniel Wenburg, 1337 East SR 20 (Lat 41.300583 Lon 82.9033778) Type 60.0 Overall height 57 m, Registrant: 8473183264, 5600 NORTH RIVER ROAD, SUITE 300
23. Lottie L Thompson, 4542 County Road 113 (Clyde Oh1# 9173) (Lat: 41.256444 Lon:-82.958333), Type: 61.0, Overall height: 60.7 m Registrant: 8472401508, , 1101 PERIMETER DRIVE
24. Lottie L Thompson, 4542 County Road 113 (Clyde Oh1# 9173) (Lat: 41.256444 Lon:-82.958333), Type: 61.0, Overall height: 60.7 m Registrant: 8472401508, , 1101 PERIMETER DRIVE
25. Tanya Weber, 1337 East Sr 20 (Lat: 41.300583 Lon: -82.945944), Type: 60.0, Overall height: 57 mRegistrant: 8473183264, 5600 NORTH RIVER ROAD, SUITE 300
26. Steven A Slusher, Township Road 220 (Lat: 41.294889 Lon: -83.033778), Type: 10.1,Overall height: 9.2 m Registrant: 8003402743, 1237 DUBLIN ROAD
27. Steven A Slusher, Township Road 220 (Lat: 41.295833 Lon: -83.033889), Type: 10.1, Overall height: 9.2 m Registrant: 8003402743, 1237 DUBLIN ROAD 28. Carolyn J Tann, 1337 East Sr 20 (Lat: 41.300583 Lon: -82.945944), Type: 60.0, Overall height: 57 m Registrant: 9133159931, 6450 SPRINT PARKWAY
29. Frederick E Cannady, 5208 County Road 175 (Lat: 41.304611 Lon: -82.932111), Type:80.4, Overall height: 76.2 m Registrant: 9194680112, Fred, 400 REGENCY FOREST DRIVE, SUITE 200
30. Steve Lawson, 5208 County Road 175 (Lat: 41.304611 Lon: -82.932111), Type: 80.4,Overall height: 76.2 mRegistrant: 9194680112, Fred, 400 REGENCY FOREST DRIVE, SUITE 200
31. Lottie L Thompson, 4542 County Road 113 (Clyde Oh1# 9173) (Lat: 41.256444 Lon:-82.958333), Type: 61.0, Overall height: 60.7 m Registrant: 8472401508, , 1101 PERIMETER DRIVE
32. Corrie Zaldivar, 1137 E. Mcpherson Hwy (Lat: 41.302389 Lon: -82.950889), Type: 59.4,Overall height: 59.4 m Registrant: 4256435000, 111 108TH AVE NE, SUITE 160
33. Corrie Zaldivar, 1137 E. Mcpherson Hwy (Lat: 41.302389 Lon: -82.950889), Type: 59.4, Overall height: 59.4 m Registrant: 4256435000, 111 108TH AVE NE, SUITE 160
34. Property Management, 1137 E. Mcpherson Hwy (Lat: 41.302389 Lon: -82.950889), Type:59.4, Overall height: 59.4 m Registrant: 5619957670, 5900 BROKEN SOUND PKWY NW
35. Christine A Verre, 1337 East Sr 20 (Lat: 41.300583 Lon: -82.945944), Type: 60.0, Overall height: 57 m Registrant: 8772656872, 6391 SPRINT PARKWAY
36. Kristin A Steiner, 1137 E. Mcpherson Hwy (Lat: 41.302389 Lon: -82.950889), Type: 59.4, Overall height: 59.4 m Registrant: 9495151500, 660 NEWPORT CENTER DRIVE, STE 200
37. Edward G Roach, 1137 E. Mcpherson Hwy (Lat: 41.302389 Lon: 82.950889), Type: 59.4,Overall height: 59.4 m Registrant: 5619957670, 5900 BROKEN SOUND PKWY NW 1120, SANCTUARY PKWY Ste
39. Mikhail Raznobriadsev, 415 Premier Drive (Lat: 41.294667 Lon: -82.965806), Type: 55.1, Structure height: 39143 m, Overall height: 52.4m, Registrant: 7707971070, Network, 1120 SANCTUARY PKWY Ste 1-50
40. Sharon Yeager, 415 Premier Drive (Lat: 41.294667 Lon: -82.965806), Type: 55.1, St Network, 1120 SANCTUARY PKWY Ste 1-50
41. Bridget Carter, 5208 County Road 175 (Lat: 41.304611 Lon: -82.932111), Type:80.4,Structure height: 39143 m, Overall height: 76.2 m, Registrant: 8472401508, 1101 PERIMETER DRIVE STE 700
42. Regulatory Manager, 415 Premier Drive (Lat: 41.294667 Lon: -82.965806), Type:55.1,Structure height: 3914m, Overall height: 52.4 m Registrant: 7707971070, Network, 1120 SANCTUARY PKWY Ste 1-50
http://www.city-data.com/towers/cell-Clyde-Ohio.html
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