January 27, 2008 - Judy McInturf is making a list of the sick and the dead.
On it are old friends, her son's former co-worker, her daughter's friend, family acquaintances, their adult children. And, of course, her late husband, Haskel.
In hindsight, McInturf wonders if there could be a connection: Were her family and friends caught up in some sort of toxic web – and if so, what's the deadly thread that connects them?
State and county health officials are asking similar questions. Soon, they'll descend upon this industrial city in central Butte County to investigate an unusual concentration of pancreatic cancer diagnoses and deaths – 23 people in 2004-05, more than twice what would be expected. They will interview the patients still living and the families of the dead, looking for environmental clues.
It's rare for the state to go to such lengths in pursuit of a possible cancer cluster – a signal there could be cause for alarm. It's even rarer in such cases for researchers to identify a single toxic culprit.
More . . .
Water Contamination, Land Pollution & Hazardous Waste Material are issues families all across America are afflicted with daily.
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