Preliminary analysis inconclusive in nine childhood leukemia cases

Brendan Riley

Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001 | 4:41 a.m.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - The first stage of a state probe has found no explanation for a cluster of nine childhood leukemia cases in a small Nevada town and health officials will now turn to outside experts for help.

State Health Officer Dr. Mary Guinan said Wednesday that a preliminary analysis of the cases linked to the town of Fallon, was based on extensive, 32-page questionnaires completed by the victims' families.

"We're going to continue to investigate and make sure that we've done our absolute best to assure ourselves and the public that there isn't something in Fallon that is causing these unfortunate illnesses," Guinan said.

"We've been working with the Centers for Disease Control and others and we still don't have a smoking gun," Guinan added. "In the next month, we will assemble a group of outside experts, present all the information to them, and say, 'Where do we go from here?"'

The only clear link between the nine young leukemia victims, who range from a toddler to a 19-year-old, is that they or their parents lived in recent years in Fallon, an agriculture and Navy town of about 8,300 residents just east of here.

Normally, the rate of such cases would be about three in every 100,000 people.

The disease, acute lymphocytic leukemia or ADD, is the most common form of leukemia - but its cause is unknown. Suspected triggers include radiation exposure, electromagnetic fields or volatile organic compounds such as benzene, solvents and fossil fuels.

"When you have a cluster (of ADD cases), you rarely come up with a clear answer," Guinan said, adding, "People are very frightened, and understandably so."

The concern has resulted in some "conspiracy theories," Guinan said. But she added that none of the theories advanced in the Fallon cases have been substantiated.

Guinan's office has said there's only a remote possibility that the leukemia is linked to local water supplies.

Fallon is under a federal Environmental Protection Agency order to reduce the city water's arsenic level, which is double the permitted national standard - but water sources differ for each of the affected families.

Federal testing of nuclear weapons occurred near Fallon in the 1950s. But Guinan said repeated tests for radioactive substances in the area's water sources have been negative.

Pilots training at the Fallon Naval Air Station have been known to dump fuel over empty desert areas in emergencies. But Guinan said that's not a potential source that can be linked to the victims.

In the search for clues, state epidemiologist Randall Todd even reviewed the scientific studies on ADD in Woburn, Mass., the basis for the book and film, "A Civil Action." The Massachusetts case is associated with pregnant women drinking water from two contaminated wells.

In the next stage of the investigation, outside experts will be asked, among other things, whether the state's questionnaire was extensive enough.

"Is there something we didn't ask about. Is there a new chemical that we didn't test for? We don't know," Guinan said. "We need to have a systematic approach."

"We'll keep on looking and keep on talking to and keeping close ties with the families. They're the reason we're continuing the investigation."