Cancer Inquiries & Reports
Cameron Brain Cancer Inquiry
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services conducted a cancer inquiry in response to concerns about brain tumor cases in the northwest Missouri town of Cameron. Information was gathered and analyzed for more than a year to determine whether an usual number of cancers were occurring in zip codes in the around Cameron. Summaries of the findings are available at the links below:
- Cameron Benign and Malignant Brain Tumor Investigation - Final Report Summary
- Cameron Benign and Malignant Brain Tumor Review, 2008 - 2009
- Community Update on Cancer Inquiry (October, 2008)
- Cameron Brain Tumor/Brain Cancer Inquiry (October, 2008)
Coldwater Creek
Coldwater Creek is adjacent to several sites in the St. Louis, MO area which were involved in the processing and recovery of uranium during World War II. These sites were contaminated with radioactive waste as a result of the processing and recovery activities. While most of the radioactive wastes have been cleaned up, citizens have expressed concern that exposure to the wastes has increased the number of cancer cases in the area. As part of ongoing surveillance around some of these sites, and in response to community concerns, an analysis of cancer incidence in the area was completed using data from the Missouri Cancer Registry. Results of the analysis are posted below.
- Letter from Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to US Army Corps of Engineers regarding St. Louis FUSRAP Sites- Priority Funding (September 2014)
- Letter from DNR to US Army Corps of Engineers regarding St. Louis FUSRAP Sites- Public Notification (September 2014)
- Letter to ATSDR regarding St. Louis FUSRAP Sites - Radiation Dose Reconstruction Request (September 2014)
- Analysis of Cancer Incidence Data in Coldwater Creek Area, Missouri, 1996-2011 (September 2014)
- Analysis of Cancer Incidence Data in Coldwater Creek Area, Missouri, 1996-2004 (March 2013)
- Data Tables for Analysis of Cancer Incidence Data in Coldwater Creek Area (March 2013)
- Coldwater Creek Image
Verona
The Syntex Facility is located in the southeast Missouri town of Verona. Production activities at this site from the 1960s to 1972 resulted in the contamination of soil and groundwater with dioxin and volatile organic compounds. The site was added to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983 and was also added to the State of Missouri Registry of Abandoned or Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites in 1984. Cleanup activities at the site were completed in 1998, and site monitoring is ongoing. In 2021, the Mayor of Verona requested that the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services conduct a cancer inquiry. The findings of the inquiry is available at the link below:
Weldon Spring
The Weldon Spring site is an area in St. Charles County about 30 miles west of St. Louis that was contaminated with hazardous radiological and chemical substances. The contamination stems from production of TNT and DNT by the U.S. Department of Army in the 1940’s and from enrichment of uranium ore and thorium processing by the Atomic Energy Commission in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The Department of Energy began clean-up efforts in 1980’s and most of the soils have been removed. The public has expressed concern about the hazardous effect of the sites on the public’s health, especially childhood leukemia. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has reviewed the incidence and mortality of leukemia and the results are included in the below reports.