Editorial: Mystery in Fallon continues

Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002 | 8:51 a.m.

On Tuesday scientists with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that they found unusually high levels of arsenic and tungsten in residents from Fallon, which has had an extraordinarily high rate of children suffering from leukemia. While anxious residents of the small town in Northern Nevada finally know something about the results of tests that were conducted on them, the CDC scientists acknowledged that they don't yet know if there is a connection between the high levels of minerals and the childhood leukemia, a cancer that already has killed three people who live or had lived in Fallon. Another 13 children in the area have contracted leukemia since 1997.

While scientists do believe that there is a correlation between rates of some types of cancer and arsenic, a mineral that previously was known to be at high levels in Fallon's drinking water, no research to date has linked arsenic to childhood leukemia. And no one previously suggested any harmful effects, such as leukemia, that come from tungsten. It is encouraging that the CDC said it will ask the National Toxicology Program to begin testing of tungsten to assess whether a link to human cancers can be found. Health agencies need to stay aggressive in this investigation and continue looking at other environmental factors that may have caused the leukemia cluster in Fallon, which also is home to the Naval Air Station. Investigators are assessing whether a jet fuel pipeline to the military base or well water may be contributing to the incidence of leukemia.

This isn't just about Fallon, however. Although federal health officials closely monitor infectious diseases, the high rate of leukemia in Fallon -- a cluster that health officials discovered belatedly a couple of years ago -- points out that the federal government comparatively does nothing to track environmental links to illnesses and diseases. The Trust for America's Health, a public interest group based in Washington, wants a nationwide database created to monitor chronic diseases. If this were done it could help more quickly identify something in the environment that may cause an increase in asthma, cancer and birth defects. Legislation to create such a national database, which has the support of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is pending in Congress. Not only should federal health agencies continue in their determination to find out what caused the leukemia cluster in Fallon, but Congress also should create a database so that one day soon we can quickly identify when a disease ! tied to the environment is occurring, whether it's here in Nevada or anywhere else in the nation.