Study links some cancer to pollution; Preliminary findings raise eyebrows on Neville Island

By Don Hopey, Post-Gazette staff writer Copyright 1998 Piitsburgh Post-Gazette August 20, 1998

Kim Frankenfield-Pro moved from Michigan to Neville Island two years ago when her husband inherited the riverfront property where his great-grandmother had grown asparagus for the exclusive Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City.

But the Ohio River island's national reputation as a vegetable producer is long gone, and Frankenfield-Pro and her family must decide if they should leave, too.

Factored into the decision will be a study of cancer death rates on the now heavily industrial island and in surrounding Avalon, Ben Avon, Emsworth, Stowe, McKees Rocks and Robinson. The study found significantly elevated levels of cancer in several population categories, including children and white males.

Lung cancer death rates are higher in women of all age categories, too. And among women 40 to 59 years old, urinary bladder cancer occurrence is more than three times the state rate, according to the study by Evelyn Talbott, an epidemiologist at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

The study is preliminary, and the higher cancer rates haven't been adjusted for risk factors like cigarette smoking and occupational exposure, but the findings are cause for concern.

"We love our place along the river," said Frankenfield-Pro, who has an 18-month-old daughter. "It's like a different world from the city and a lot to give up, but we have to decide if it's worth the risk to live there. We're in an information-gathering stage."

Neville's industries produce 25 percent of all the toxic chemicals released in Allegheny County annually, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's toxic release inventory.

As a result, this industrial concentration - along with a federal Superfund site that has contaminated groundwater on the western end of the island near where the Frankenfield-Pros live - has raised health concerns of area residents and environmental groups.

"A lot of the chemicals used by industry haven't been fully treated for health effects," said Myron Arnowitt of the environmental group Clean Water Action. "And whether their use is legally permitted or not, I think if something is causing a health problem, people would want to see something done about it."

Talbott, an environmental epidemiologist who has been a Pitt professor for 20 years, said the study was a first step toward finding out whetherthere is a link between cancers and the heavy industry and toxic pollution around Neville Island.

The study compares cancer death rates for the population of 48,447 people in Neville and the surrounding municipalities from 1990 through 1994 against statewide rates.

The total number of cancer deaths in the Neville region during those years - 1,560 - is almost exactly the number that would be expected, based on the state's cancer rate. But higher rates of several types of cancer that have been linked to environmental factors in other studies "raised eyebrows," Talbott said.

"The findings are noteworthy, particularly those regarding children, and I believe warrant a further, more expanded look or analysis," she said.

She said Dr. Bruce Dixon, Allegheny County Health Department director, has pledged support for further research and suggested that cancer death rates in the Neville area be compared with Allegheny County rates.

"Certain findings do need further study," said Guillermo Cole, Health Department spokesman, "and the department is willing to look into and do additional research in those areas."

Mark Lutz, advertising manager for Neville Chemical Co., which makes hydrocarbon resins for inks, paints, coatings and adhesives, emphasized the preliminary nature of the study's findings.

"It's unfortunate the preliminary numbers are what they are," he said. "We hope as the research progresses those numbers will improve."

Dan Bricmont, Avalon's mayor and chairman of the Health Department's Air Quality Citizens Advisory Committee, said he was troubled by the study, preliminary or not.

"Anytime an epidemiological study shows something beyond what is expected statistically it raises concerns," he said. "Residents don't feel safe anymore or it raises questions in their minds about why there are statistical differences.

"I think further study is warranted, and the Health Department should be involved. I want to know if the risk is significant from a medical or scientific point of view."

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