'Cancer clusters' are popping up in towns across the US and the environment may be to blame

Pure chance means that there will be some cancer clusters. The question is whether there are more then would be expected by chance. Of course, we know that some places will have cancer clusters because of pollution, eg., mining communities will have more lung cancers than average.

https://news.yahoo.com/cancer-clusters-popping-towns-across-184306169.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/cancer-clusters-in-neighborhoods-cdc-treatment-plan-environment-2020-1?utm_source=yahoo.com&utm_medium=referral

Weng Cheong

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Wind's home in Mooresville, North Carolina, may be on its way as one of the 1,000 suspected cancer clusters reported to state health departments each year, according to the American Cancer Society. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a cancer cluster as a geographic region in which cancer cases are more concentrated within a group of people.

A similar case of the north Houston neighborhoods in Texas identified a cancer cluster near a rail yard site with creosote, a potential cancer-causing chemical, reported the Houston Chronicle. Though the state department assessment found plausible evidence of the contamination in August, residents weren't notified until December. Some other ongoing cluster investigations are located in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and Waycross, Georgia.

Substantial research suggests that certain jobs like firefighting and rubber manufacturing come with more health risks.

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Certain cases of cancer are out of our control, Business Insider reported. They are determined by genetic defects that are passed down from one generation to the next. Some external factors or lifestyle factors, like tobacco-smoking or a high sugar intake, can also increase our chances for a diagnosis.

However, environmental factors are harder to avoid. The air we breathe, the water we drink, or our job demands are often underrated contributions to our health.

In Susan Wind's case, the presence of two power plants and coal ash, a potential chemical contaminant, may have contributed to the unusual cases of thyroid cancer in Mooresville, but researchers aren't certain of its direct correlation. There's simply not enough evidence (yet) to link environmental pollution with cancer diagnoses. Wind is still waiting for her fundraised research results.