25. TOXICS: Uptick in disease clusters spurs calls for TSCA reform (03/28/2011)

Jeremy P. Jacobs, E&E reporter

An increase in the number of geographic areas with a spike in cancer and other diseases shows the need for greater regulation of chemicals and other toxics in the environment, according to a report released today by green and health advocacy groups.

The report on so-called disease clusters found high instances of birth defects, cancer and other illnesses in 44 communities across the 13 states it surveyed. It was sponsored by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the National Disease Clusters Alliance (NDCA).

The clusters indicate that chemicals and other environmental substances in the environment need to be more tightly regulated and that the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) needs to be reformed, according to the groups.

The large number of clusters also shows that more must be done to identify their causes, said Gina Solomon of NRDC, one of the report's authors.

"These cancer and disease clusters are surprisingly common," Solomon said. "There are communities all around the country that are struggling with these chronic diseases. They need to be investigated in a structured way."

The report searched disease registries, state records, federal records, media reports and scientific journals to find the clusters. In each case, Solomon said, there was agreement in the scientific community that the disease rates were out of the norm, and an investigation of some sort into the cause was launched.

In many cases, the investigation did not identify what causes the uptick in disease rates, which Solomon said is a major problem.

"A lot of these investigations come up indeterminate," she said. "That's not good enough. Communities really deserve answers. They deserve a full investigation."

While the report does not say what caused each disease cluster, it does highlight possible contributors. For example, in Prairie Grove, Ark., the state's Department of Health identified a cluster of testicular cancer from 1997 to 2001 that included three cases in 14-year-old boys. The state did not determine a cause, but the report notes that the town is near a now-closed nuclear reactor, a low-level radioactive landfill, a poultry plant and a poultry-feed manufacturer that uses arsenic, which has been linked to cancer.

The report comes as Congress is turning its attention to the topic. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is holding a hearing tomorrow on disease clusters featuring Erin Brockovich, whose fight against the contaminant hexavalent chromium was made famous by the 2000 blockbuster movie bearing her name. Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) introduced legislation calling for a study of any connections between environmental toxins and disease clusters (E&E Daily, March 28).

Terry Nordbrock, the executive director of NDCA and one of the report's authors, said she hopes the study leads to greater funding for local authorities to investigate the outbreaks. She also said TSCA has not sufficiently regulated chemicals that Americans are frequently exposed to.

"Some of these problems are quite dramatic," Nordbrock said. "These exposures are happening in a rather careless way. They are in the air, in the food and in personal care products. There are exposures happening, and we don't know what they are doing to us."

The report also seeks to highlight TSCA's shortcomings. All of the clusters in the report occurred after 1976, when the law was passed. TSCA is the country's only environmental statute never to receive a congressional update.

Nordbrock added that this is "just a tip of the iceberg report" and that she, along with her co-authors at NRDC, plan to search all 50 states for clusters.