Cancer Clusters In California
Subject: Cancer Clusters In California
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 11:23:53 -0500
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read the following articles on cancer clusters:
The San Diego Channel
Updated: 7:07 p.m. PST January 24, 2002
Experts To Investigate Cancer Cluster
Several Cancer Cases Found In Valley Center
VALLEY CENTER, Calif. -- Some Valley Center parents may finally get answers to life and death questions about an unusually high number of cancer cases in the area, 10News reported.
County Leaders Starting To Listen
Medical experts from the University of California, Irvine, have arrived in the area to try to determine the reason, if any, for the cancer cluster.
The first cases started popping up in 1997, affecting people like Michael Cooper.
Cooper has been fighting one of the most aggressive forms of leukemia since last summer. After several rounds of chemotherapy and a stem cell replacement, Cooper's chances of survival are better, but the fight has left his family emotionally and financially exhausted.
"Everything from financial to emotional, it has been the most horrifying experience of our lives," Cooper's mother, Kim, said.
Cooper is not alone.
Penny Gipson's daughter, Laura, died from a brain tumor just days before her 20th birthday.
"It looked like she was going to make it. It really did," Gipson told 10News.
Valley Center residents have documented 14 cases of childhood cancer in the last five years, 10News reported. The small community began to pick up on the trend, comparing notes.
Parents believe there may be a link in the cases, with most of the children affected living in the same general area.
"Some of are main concerns are with pesticides," Gipson said. "We'd like to have the soil and water tested at the homes of the children who have been diagnosed with cancer. And the school, too."
The experts from UC Irvine will be joined by members of the California Cancer Registry in searching for an answer.
"People are listening to us, and that's all we're asking for. If there's nothing, then there's nothing. But if there's something, let's look into it," Gipson said.
A community forum will be held Saturday to answer residents' questions. The experts will not have any answers about the existence or lack of a cause but will seek community input:
Valley Center Community Forum Saturday, January 26th V.C. Upper Elementary School gym 1p.m.-4 p.m.
Regardless of the official findings, the Cooper family said they are focused on one thing: making it to the day when Michael feels like himself again.
"All I want is: My son to have a life again, and to just put all this behind us," Kim Cooper said.
A fund has been set up to help the Cooper family deal with the expenses sparked by his cancer treatments:
Michael Cooper Fund CA Bank & Trust, Valley Center - 760/749-1311
Copyright 2002 by TheSanDiegoChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source url: http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/sand/news/stories/news-120600420020124-200152.html
==============================================
* November 17, 2001: Unit10 Investigation: Valley Center Cancer
Unit10 Investigation: Valley Center Cancer
Some Suspect 'Cancer Cluster' Posted: 6:20 p.m. PST November 16, 2001 Updated: 8:37 p.m. PST November 16, 2001
SAN DIEGO -- An unusually high number of illnesses in Valley Center has county officials investigating the possibility of a cancer cluster, 10News' Kim Edwards reported in a Unit10 Investigation.
Numbers Caught Attention Of Residents, County Officials
In Valley Center, open spaces, rolling hills, and orange trees outnumber people. When a dozen residents got cancer during the last decade -- numbers better suited for a crowded city -- it set off alarms. The numbers caught the attention first of parents and now county officials.
"I know of about seven kids that have different types of cancer," resident Vicki Sheedy said.
Sheedy has watched neighbors get sick -- even die -- and worries about the odds for her healthy kids.
County Supervisor Bill Horn said that the numbers deserve attention, but warned residents not to panic.
"We are investigating," Horn said. "We're looking to see if there is a cancer cluster situation."
The California Cancer Registry documented six cases of childhood cancer in Valley Center during the last 12 years. Those include three brain cancer cases, one case of leukemia, one Hodgkin's disease case and one thyroid cancer case. When it comes to the most recent cases, investigators will need more information on the children including names, dates of birth, diagnoses and addresses so that they can piece together whether or not there is any connection between the cases.
The community may have to wait five months for the results of the investigation.
In the meantime, a fund-raiser will be held Saturday for young Michael Smith, another victim of leukemia in Valley Center.
Horn's office plans to host community meetings in Valley Center to discuss the issue.
Source url: http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/sand/news/stories/news-108356120011116-201101.html
Well Mr. Helliker, A friend of mine, Dr. Warren Porter has posted the following:
1. All pesticide formulations come with "inactive ingredients", which are surfactants and organic soaps. They may be just as or more biologically active than the "active ingredients".
2. The "active ingredients" are molecules designed to be partly fat-soluble and partly water-soluble. This is achieved typically using a "benzene ring" shaped structure that may have nitrogen atoms or other atoms replacing some of the carbons in the ring and electrostatically charged groups hanging from the ring of atoms. The ring shaped structure gives lipid solubility, the strong electronegative or electropositive charged atoms or groups of atoms provide water solubility. Thus the molecule can penetrate the cell membrane, which is lipid, and then interact with internally charged particles (internal communications, DNA, power generation) inside the cell to do damage. This can make these molecules "molecular bulls in a china shop".
3. The surfactants and organic soaps in pesticide formulations facilitate entry to the body through waxy surfaces like the skin (organic soaps) and through the respiratory surfaces (surfactants), which are typically defended by a thin film of water over the respiratory surface. Both routes of entry evade the normal defenses present in the body in the liver, which is typically the primary detoxifying organ.
4. The blood brain barrier is permeable to molecules that have lipid solubility. Thus, once in the bloodstream by way of the skin or respiratory surfaces, the brain is a target for molecules having lipid solubility. The brain is the command and control center of the body and is responsible for dispensing appropriate nerve impulses as well as key hormones that control body function including learning abilities, aggression levels, reproductive hormone levels, successful implantation and development of fertilized eggs, and immune function.
Perhaps "someone" will point out the fact that benzene is a known cause of cancer to the California Cancer Registry and that you continue to demand that only your "registered" POISONS can be "legally" used/misused to "protect" food crops in California.
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
If you would like to be included in our mailing list for continuing information on pesticides, Email Us. with "subscribe" in the subject line.