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“It was the scariest thing in the world for us and then we started to realize it was happening to other families in our town,” said Raso, whose family moved to Stoneham soon after. “We sensed that something was going on, but nobody knew what.”
More than two decades later, the State Department of Public Health released a report on Wednesday that gave credence to the Rasos’s fears. The results “strongly suggested” a link between the high rates of childhood cancer in Wilmington in the 1990s and prenatal exposure to contaminated water during this period.
Between 1990 and 2000, at least 22 local children contracted cancer. Two of them died.
“Despite the limitations, including a small sample size and modeled exposure estimates, the study results show an association between childhood cancer and prenatal exposure to NDMA,” officials said. DPH by announcing the results.
In an initial study in 2000, state officials identified an unusual pattern of children with cancer who lived on the west side of Wilmington. These findings prompted the Legislature to fund a larger epidemiological study to determine if they were the result of environmental factors.
In 2003, regulators identified a known carcinogen called not-nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA, which contaminated the drinking water of one of the city’s aquifers, which was shut down. They determined the contamination came from a large chemical manufacturing plant in the city that had been operated by a series of companies between 1953 and 1986.
The 53-acre site was last purchased by Olin Chemical Co. in 1980 and is now managed by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Superfund site. The EPA recently released a $ 48 million plan to clean up the area.
The study also investigated whether cancers were associated with exposure to trichlorethylene, or TCE, a solvent also found in water that has been linked to cancer. DPH officials said the results were “statistically significant.”
“The results remained consistent even after statistical adjustment for other possible cancer risk factors, such as maternal exposures during pregnancy, household and occupational exposures, family history of cancer, and childhood medical history.” health officials said in a statement. “There was no evidence of an increased risk of cancer in children exposed to NDMA or TCE during childhood.”
Olin Chemical Co. officials said in a statement that they were “reviewing the study and its findings.”
“Olin was not invited to participate or provide information to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health or others in connection with the study,” said Ed Kral, a spokesperson for the company. “We continue to work in cooperation with, and under the direct supervision of the US EPA and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, to investigate and rehabilitate the Wilmington site.”
Kathleen Barry, spokesperson for 18 of the families whose children were diagnosed with cancer in the 1990s, said many parents were relieved to finally have answers.
“We all have a hard time doing something right in such a bad situation,” she said.
Many families were amazed to learn that the the exposure was prenatal.
“They were shocked at this,” she said. “Even though they expected the link, they were amazed at how the department understood it.”
The study required researchers to develop computer models and reconstruct historical concentrations of chemicals in the homes of each study participant, which is part of the reason why it took so long to complete, have said officials of the DPH. The study was due to be published last year but was delayed by the pandemic.
Only two cases of childhood cancer were diagnosed in Wilmington between 1982 and 1989, likely before the chemicals entered the aquifer, according to the report. The 22 cases from the 1990s included eight cases of leukemia and three lymphomas. Since 2001, the local incidence of childhood cancer has returned to expected rates, about one case per year, state officials said.
In the study, the researchers wrote that while “the presence of these contaminants cannot definitively explain the pattern of childhood / adolescent cancer”, the risks of exposure offered “what we believe to be a plausible explanation.” .
Barry said families are unlikely to take legal action against Olin, who has already established a trust to pay for their children’s health care, education and other financial needs.
It was unclear how the city would react, given the long-term loss of a vital and lucrative aquifer that provided approximately 3.5 million gallons of drinking water per day to the city’s 22,000 residents.
“I want to express my deepest condolences to the families,” said Jeffrey M. Hull, the city manager. “There is no more terrifying diagnosis for anyone, and especially for a parent, than being told their child has cancer.”
He said city officials are taking the results “very seriously” and will speak with an environmental consultant to determine their next steps.
When asked if the city was going to sue Olin, Hull said, “I cannot offer further comment pending a detailed review of the study.”
He said the city’s water supply is now safe, meets state and federal government requirements, and is regularly tested.
“Providing residents and businesses with safe, clean water is a key priority for the city,” he said.
Local conservationists, who have long expressed frustration at the city’s lack of action, said they believed residents deserved compensation.
“This aquifer was a revenue generator for the city, and this resource was damaged, perhaps irreparably,” said Martha Stevenson, chair of the Wilmington Environmental Restoration Committee.
She said many local residents felt confirmed that their suspicions were true.
“It was really frustrating having to wait so long and having families in limbo for two decades,” Stevenson said.
For the Rasos, whose daughter Nicole is now a healthy 24-year-old preschool teacher, the report has left them with mixed emotions.
“We are convinced that we are validated, but it does not make us feel better that our children are sick, and some of them are dead,” said Raso. “There is definitely some lingering anger.”
David Abel can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @davabel.
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