Possible 10th case of leukemia in Fallon studied

Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2001 | 10:23 a.m.

Nevada health officials are investigating another possible case of childhood leukemia in Fallon possibly linked to nine others diagnosed within the last year.

The Nevada Health Division learned Tuesday that a Fallon child who moved to Pennsylvania was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in 1999. The family moved from Fallon before other cases were diagnosed.

The daughter of Floyd Sands, who lived in the rural town 60 miles east of Reno from 1987 until 1995, was diagnosed in July 1999, the Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard reported Tuesday in a copyrighted story.

Sands told the Fallon newspaper that he had worked for DynCorps, a contractor at the Naval Air Station in Fallon. His daughter lived with him from 1992 until they moved to Pennsylvania in 1995. Before 1992, he said, his daughter spent her summers in Fallon with him.

Sands learned about Fallon's leukemia cases Saturday while scanning the Internet. His daughter's leukemia is in remission, he told the newspaper. She is waiting for a bone marrow donor.

The newspaper called state epidemiologist Dr. Randall Todd, who phoned the family for an initial interview. The next step will involve an extensive medical history of more than 30 pages for the family to fill out.

If the latest case meets the criteria -- a diagnosis of acute childhood leukemia, diagnosed up to the age of 19 years old and living in Fallon -- it would be the 10th confirmed case, Todd said.

The state's ongoing investigation into the childhood leukemias, the most common form of the bone marrow cancer, has not produced evidence of an environmental link that could cause the cases, Todd said.

The state now is turning its attention to military activities in Fallon, Todd said.

Although a cause of childhood leukemia is unknown, environmental links suspected of triggering the disease include high doses of therapeutic radiation to children or their mothers during pregnancy, electromagnetic fields or volatile organic compounds such as benzene, solvents and fossil fuels.

Drinking water was the prime suspect, but family histories so far show that no consistent source supplied the victims. However, Todd would not rule out more extensive water tests.

Fallon water officials are under an Environmental Protection Agency order to remove arsenic, measured at 10 times above the national limit, from its supply. The arsenic occurs naturally in the city's water supply.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has been contacted and will review the cases, Todd said.