Maine's high rate of bladder-cancer deaths sparks study (ground water suspected...)

WMTW ^

[Erasmus]

In WWII, young women painted altimeter dials with radium luminous paint. Radium occupies the same row in the periodic table as calcium. The women's bones were still growing, and the body took up Group IIA metals thinking they were calcium. This included Radium 226. Many died of bone cancers years later.

I believe they also had the habit of 'tipping off' the brushes between their lips.

My dad was in the business of finishing watch dials. I watched him build a small lead box for the vials of radium compound, which he stored in the company vault and provided with ventilation to the outside. He also had installed exhaust vents right near each dial painting station.

[Eagle Eye]

So, these heavies, right up to lead, end up where? Liver, kidneys, bladder, and in the case of radium, bone.

Sure, depending on the element.

If we no longer assume that the exposure is environmental, but occupational, then we ca pretty much discard radon as the culprit. Are there significantly more dye, and refining industries in Maine than in the rest of the country? Is there any reason that Maine workers would be exposed to VOC's than other workers? (My first hunch would be in this area, not radon, but one must keep an open mind, right?)

The article didn't mention if the increased rate was significant or not, did it? I suppose that this could also be a way of scrounging for grant money to support some researchers.

("Fully ONE HALF of our kids are below average and we need to find out why.")

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Radon gas

I didn't think Radon was water-soluble. The partial pressure of Radon has got to near zero. In a closed building Radon emitted in the basement is temporally trapped and can be inhaled, where it can be lodged in the lungs and cause lung cancer, but not (I thought) bladder cancer.

More likely culprit is arsenic (pace). Clinton's chronically irresponsible behavior has cast a cloud over what may be a legitimate public health concern. The problem with Clinton is that even if he makes a decision for the right reasons, nobody, including his own supporters, will believe him.

[Amore]

I suspect it is from smokers in the midwest, their second hand smoke drifts into Maine and contaminates the water.

Well, you're close. Leave out the water, inhaling the smoke will do it. Smoking IS a common cause of bladder cancer. My father lost his bladder that way.

[harpseal]

The radon as I understand it could cause an increase in the amout of tritium isotope within the water and that could have an effect but I was merely giving an unscientific speculation. Maybe there is some other mineral that is causing this but I really do not know.

Stay well - stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown