No Heavy Metals For Kentucky's Public Drinking Water

This is from the Kentucky Division of Water. A study that looked at 12 years of data of Kentucky’s drinking water found that the drinking water was safe from heavy metal pollutants, even in the counties where there is a lot of coal mining.

            Using data from the National Cancer Institute, the study compared counties where coal production has been high with counties where coal production has been low and found no significant difference in cancer rates, although the study did find that cancer rates were higher in the eastern Appalachian mountains of the state.

            Other recent scientific studies have found high rates of cancer, birth defects, and other ailments afflicting those who live among mountaintop removal mines. These studies were peer reviewed. The study from the Kentucky Division of Water has yet to receive peer review. Also, the study only considered public drinking water and not well water. It is water drawn from wells that is usually fouled by mountaintop mining. And, as well, cancer rates were compared between counties of high and low coal production. Including counties where there is no coal production, a control group, was not included.

            Even still, I’d be interested to know more about some of this research and what might be concluded after this study receives peer review.

Judas Priest, heavy metal you might want photo: last.fm 

A coal ash spill, heavy metals you probably don't want photo: celcias.com

Cell Phones and Tumors: The Science Becomes Clearer

Perhaps this story didn’t make it into the American news because we were distracted by the columns and columns of newsprint and the hours and hours of television time devoted to Mitt Romney and Barack Obama running for President. And to tell the truth, I’m surprised I ran across it now.

            Back in October an Italian court ruled that a businessman’s brain tumor was caused by his extensive use of cell phones. The man, Innocenzo Marcolini, developed the tumor after long and intense use. He used a cell phone for five to six hours a day for 12 years. The tumor developed on the left side of his head. He usually held the phones in his left hand while he took notes with his right.

            Now, granted that Marcolini’s use of a cell phone was extreme, the rest of us should take caution. Most commonly we hear that the science connecting the use of cell phones and brain tumors is inconclusive. The Reuters article where I got this story even repeats the meme. The court in Italy ruled, however, that the scientific evidence supported the claim of Marcolini, that his tumor was caused by the cell phones.

            Indeed, the reason that the science is inconclusive may be for the same reason that for years the science connecting cigarettes and lung cancer was inconclusive, because industry made the science inconclusive. For years companies like Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds sponsored “science” that showed inconclusive connections between their products and heart disease, cancer, and other ailments. Cell phone companies are just following in their footsteps. This study[i] recently published in Open Environmental Sciences analyzed the scientific studies performed on cell phones. The study determined that industry sponsored studies found inconclusive or weak evidence linking cell phones and brain tumors, while independent studies linked tumors and cell phone use.

            As far as tobacco goes, it is just today, decades after the science should have been concluded and accepted about the dangers of smoking, that a judge has ordered the large tobacco companies to admit that they lied about their products. Let’s hope it doesn’t take as long to achieve clarity about cell phones and their hazards.

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[i] Spiridione Garbisa, et al. "Mobile Phones And Head Tumours: A Critical Analysis Of Case-Control Epidemiological Studies." Open Environmental Sciences 6.(2012): 1-12. Environment Complete. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.