Scientists investigate a mysterious cluster of cancer cases in a small Alabama town, where residents fear residents have been drinking poisonous water.
The rates of 16 different forms of the disease are significantly higher than the national average in Fruithurst, which is home to just over 400 people.
The issue first came to light when a large number of children and teenagers in the local school system became ill with blood and bone cancers.
It raised concerns with the principal of the city’s primary school, who reached out to experts from several universities to investigate.
Experts from the University of Kentucky, the University of Alabama and Auburn University then surveyed more than 500 households in the school district.
Nearly 50 percent of homes sampled between 2017 and 2021 reported at least one cancer diagnosis in the family — with some cancers up to 10 times more common than the rest of the country.
The main culprit is believed to be a now-closed rubber factory located about a mile south of the primary school.
The research team analyzed more than two dozen sites in the area for heavy metals, radioactive material and toxic substances.
They found that the city’s water sources and soil contained higher-than-acceptable levels of zinc, lead and chromium — all linked to cancer.
The small town has recorded a higher-than-average rate of 16 cancers, most notably melanoma, lung, and colorectal.
The now-closed ProBlend rubber plant has been linked to higher-than-normal concentrations of contaminants in the city’s well water.
dr. Loka Ashford, co-author of the study, said her team’s analysis of water and soil samples at Fruithurst revealed exceptionally high concentrations of contaminants such as lead, arsenic and radon.
When five children were diagnosed with various cancers between 2014 and 2017, Christy Hiett, director of the local Fruithurst Elementary School, went on a charitable hunt.
She founded the grassroots group Cleburne Cancer Concerns, which relied on GoFundMe contributions and allocated money to test the well water and soil.
Ms Hiett said: ‘When children were diagnosed with leukemia, people in the community looked to me for answers.’
‘I became passionate about this subject because it had an impact on children, and children are my passion. This really touched my heart.’
Ms. Hiett convened a team of scientists from the University of Kentucky, Auburn University and University of Alabama to study samples of soil and water in the city from 2017 to 2021. Their findings were published in the journal Environmental Justice.
The team also relied on extensive interviews with the city’s households affected by the above-normal cancer prevalence.
They considered underlying risk factors such as smoking, in vitro intake of well water, and the patient’s medical history in their analysis of the samples.
dr. Loka Ashwood of the University of Kentucky’s Department of Sociology said, “Communities are gatekeepers of key knowledge to tackle cancer clusters.”
“They can and should be included in research,” she added.
The prevalence of melanoma and lung cancer in the city compared to the national figure was particularly alarming, 6.7 times and 9.2 times the national average, respectively.
The group of sociologists and geoscientists discovered the presence of heavy metals, volatile compounds and carcinogens in many of the city’s wells, which many people relied on for water.
Some of the contaminants found at elevated levels in the water and soil samples included the carcinogen bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), lead, the pesticides naphthalene and caprolactam, radon and zinc.
dr. Ashwood said: ‘We identified an association between pesticide exposure and drinking well water as statistically significant in a model of environmental exposure.
“Our rapid response water and soil samples also revealed contaminants,” she said.
The soil samples taken in 2017 were located near landfills, the Problend rubber factory, a nearby railroad, and the home of a leukemia patient.
Scientists link the environmental pollution to the now closed Problend factory. DEHP is a common industrial chemical used in the production of plastics or rubber.
Fruithurst residents have successfully joined forces to remedy the situation. Homes that could not be connected to the less polluted municipal water system were given reverse osmosis water filtration systems.
Researchers will continue to collect soil and water samples to better understand the quality of Fruithurst’s groundwater and its link to illegal landfills and the rubber factory.