Ninth Nevada leukemia case cited

Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2001 | 11:32 a.m.

A ninth case of childhood leukemia has been confirmed in Northern Nevada, state epidemiologist Randall Todd said today.

Eight previous cases -- including the case of a 5-year-old Fallon boy diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia in November -- have been discovered in Fallon, a small town about 60 miles southeast of Reno.

The ninth case does not live in Fallon and was not born there, Todd said.

The next step will be to compare the state's cancer registry with birth records to see if other similar groupings of leukemia exist, Todd said.

Most of the childhood leukemia cases have been diagnosed since March 1999, according to Daniel Danuloff, the state's cancer registry director.

Children with the disease range from a toddler to a 19-year-old. Not all of them are Fallon natives, and one of them moved there with leukemia.

The number of cases in a farming and ranching town the size of Fallon is unusual, Todd said.

The cases have been under investigation by the state Health Division. Health officials are searching for a common link among the children, he said.

The investigation began in July. Todd has met with the children and their families, but has found no common factor that could reveal a cause of the disease.

Although Fallon's water has naturally occurring levels of arsenic above health standards, the town's drinking water is a remote possibility, Todd has said. The families use different water supplies.

Fallon is under a federal Environmental Protection Agency order to treat its drinking water, which is double the federal arsenic standard. EPA officials have said they are unaware of any public water system in the country that has such high levels of arsenic.

Some residents use household wells for drinking water, which also may have the high levels of arsenic.

Besides farming and ranching, the military and mining industries have been active in the area.

Todd and other Nevada officials have tried to track down scientific clues similar to studies done of childhood leukemia cases in Woburn, Mass. That cancer cluster led to the book and film, "A Civil Action."

The Massachusetts cluster emerged after pregnant women drank water from two wells containing several chemical contaminants. The cluster generated a class-action lawsuit that was settled for $8 million.

While a small amount of arsenic was found in Woburn's wells, it has not been linked to leukemia, Todd said.

The cause of the Fallon leukemias may never be discovered, since it is difficult to trace common factors among the cases, Todd said. No one knows what causes childhood leukemia.

Radiation exposure, electromagnetic fields or radiation are suspected triggers. In addition, volatile organic compounds such as benzene, solvents and fossil fuels are also suspected.