| |
(About ESCHP
continued:)
In June 2008, two researchers from the University of Arizona took tree
core samples from about 50 trees across the Eastern Shore to determine
environmental exposures to heavy metal, volatile organic compounds and
other chemicals. The Eastern Shore is one of eight suspected disease cluster
communities in the United States visited by University of Arizona Department
of Pediatrics researcher Dr. Mark Witten and tree core expert Dr. Paul
Sheppard.
In November 2009, the Sybil H. Smith Charitable Trust awarded ESCHP a
$10,000 grant to fund the tree core analysis, which is ongoing.
ESCHP is a member of the National Disease Clusters Alliance (NDCA), which
was formed out of the urgent need to identify and respond to emerging
disease cluster/anomalies. NDCA is made up of a unique cross-section
of representatives ranging from agency, non-profit organizations, community
activists, scientists and academia. NDCA maintains that there are no
government agencies that either track or respond sufficiently to disease
clusters in communities.
This is certainly true at the state level, according to a 2007 study
by Michigan Public Health Institute and Johns Hopkins University, which
found that state health agencies lack the expertise and resources to
identify and study potential clusters of cancer, birth defects and chronic
diseases.
In 2008, state public health officials dropped their second rare cancer
study in four years in Baldwin County while finally confirming what Pacey
and the University of Arizona researchers knew all along – that
a childhood cancer cluster occurred in the Fairhope area from 2000 through
2004.
ALS rates on the Eastern Shore also appear to be elevated. Our word-of-mouth
database shows that ALS rates on the Eastern Shore are at least five
times the national average.
ESCHP remains convinced that the number of rare chronic diseases in our
area it is neither normal nor acceptable. We also are confident that
we can improve public health by appealing to scientists to conduct long
overdue environmental testing in our community.
We do not know from where our environmental issues stem. But we do know
that our neighboring Mobile County in 2000 ranked eighth in the nation
for total toxic releases into the air, especially neurotoxins and developmental
toxicants that cause birth defects and cancers, according to EPA’s
Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). Also, Mobile County in 2001 was ranked
the worst county in the nation in the release of air pollutants linked
to birth defects, according to TRI.
Our database and maps remain our most powerful tools. With your help,
they will remain our best resource for future studies and funding for
that research. By joining our rare disease study, we can continue our
mission to gauge the true scope of chronic disease on the Eastern Shore
of Mobile Bay and its possible environmental causes.
We all deserve answers and the assurance that the air we breathe and
the water we drink are safe. Eastern Shore Community Health Partners
is working to find those answers for the health of our Eastern Shore
neighbors and for future generations.
|
