Cancer Rates Are Higher in Brevard County and State Officials Do Not Know Why | Fight for Zero Press Release
May. 2, 2019 | FightForZero
Cancer Knows No Municipal Boundaries
The odds of being defined as a cancer cluster are very slim. Since 1917 there have only been 19 cancer clusters established in the world, according to Wikipedia.
The Florida Department of Health states that Florida has the second-highest cancer burden in the nation. As of 2011, cancer is the leading cause of death for Floridians, surpassing heart disease. The Brevard County Cancer Assessment confirms what we thought all along; the cancer rates are higher in Brevard County, but the state health investigation found no "cancer cluster" in the two zip codes they investigated.
It is naïve to think that chemicals found in the blood and tissues of wildlife at the highest levels of toxic fluorinated chemicals ever measured in species didn’t affect human beings. The health concern isn’t just about Satellite Beach; it’s also about the men and women in uniform and the history of toxic dumping done by the polluting industries who knew that chemicals like PFAS were harmful to the environment and human health.
The Florida Department of Health states that Florida has the second-highest cancer burden in the nation. As of 2011, cancer is the leading cause of death for Floridians, surpassing heart disease. The Brevard County Cancer Assessment confirms what we thought all along; the cancer rates are higher in Brevard County, but the state health investigation found no "cancer cluster" in the two zip codes they investigated.
It is naïve to think that chemicals found in the blood and tissues of wildlife at the highest levels of toxic fluorinated chemicals ever measured in species didn’t affect human beings. The health concern isn’t just about Satellite Beach; it’s also about the men and women in uniform and the history of toxic dumping done by the polluting industries who knew that chemicals like PFAS were harmful to the environment and human health.
PFAS Chemicals were found at the third highest level in the nation right here at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and Patrick Air Force Base.
An abnormal rate of Hodgkin's Disease in South Patrick Shores first made headlines in the '90s. It was discovered that there were 30 toxic waste dumps at Patrick Air Force Base and nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with contaminated soil and groundwater.
An abnormal rate of Hodgkin's Disease in South Patrick Shores first made headlines in the '90s. It was discovered that there were 30 toxic waste dumps at Patrick Air Force Base and nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with contaminated soil and groundwater.
The Florida Department of Health study didn't look at other cancers or data from the military healthcare system. Even with strict criteria, they couldn't avoid the "significantly higher than normal" cancer rates in two Brevard County zip codes.
Even though evaluating possible cancer clusters is essential, it is incredibly challenging to identify, especially when the data collected is too inadequate to paint a high-resolution picture (broken down by zip code, not street level & stops at 2015). This is the 21st century; we can do better.
Fight For Zero has taken the initiative and lead in collecting self-reported diagnoses and mapping these illnesses in Florida. We believe everyone counts, and no one should be turned away when submitting their information.
The words used in the Brevard Cancer Assessment report to describe impact were “minimal” rather than “negligible.” Additionally, determining that the groundwater is safe is concerning as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes no safety limits (MCL) or any equivalent state limit.
Even though evaluating possible cancer clusters is essential, it is incredibly challenging to identify, especially when the data collected is too inadequate to paint a high-resolution picture (broken down by zip code, not street level & stops at 2015). This is the 21st century; we can do better.
Fight For Zero has taken the initiative and lead in collecting self-reported diagnoses and mapping these illnesses in Florida. We believe everyone counts, and no one should be turned away when submitting their information.
The words used in the Brevard Cancer Assessment report to describe impact were “minimal” rather than “negligible.” Additionally, determining that the groundwater is safe is concerning as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes no safety limits (MCL) or any equivalent state limit.
We count on supporting and submitting information from residents as we continue to fight to Washington, DC, this month to set those limits.
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To contact our blog team, email fight4zero@gmail.com
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