- Cancer Alley
Cancer Alley ( _fr. Allée de Cancer) is an area along the
Mississippi River betweenBaton Rouge andNew Orleans , in theRiver Parishes ofLouisiana , which contains numerous industrial plants.The name Cancer Alley is based on anecdotal evidence. There do not appear to be any scientific studies that clearly indicate that the incidence of
cancer in this region is above the average for the rest of the United States, while there are studies (by Shell Oil Company) that indicate that it is actually lower. [ [http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/61/4/295 "Mortality patterns among residents in Louisiana’s industrial corridor, USA, 1970–99, "] ]However, in one Louisiana town with a population under 20,000, 3 cases of rhabdomyosarcoma were reported in a 14 month period. Fact|date=November 2007
Rhabdomysosarcoma , an extremely rare and devastating childhood cancer, has a national average of one child out of a million. It is clear that more research needs to be done.A study by Frederic T. Billings III, M.D., argues that
Louisiana does indeed have an alarmingly high lung cancer rate, but that the source is not the "cancer alley" parishes, but the other parishes of Louisiana, wheretobacco smoking can be blamed for most of the lung cancer. [cite web|url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1473137|publisher=TheAmerican Clinical and Climatological Association |title=Cancer Corridors and Toxic Terrors—is it Safe to Eat and Drink?|author=Frederic T. Billings III, M.D.|date=2005]ee also
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Environmental racism
*Cancer cluster References
Further reading
*Nitzkin, Joel L. (April 1992), "Cancer in Louisiana: A Public Health Perspective". "Journal of the Louisiana Medical Society". p. 162.
External links
* [http://www.nola.com/speced/unwelcome/index.ssf?/speced/unwelcome/stories/0524b.html Cancer Alley: Myth or Fact?] , Unwelcome Neighbors: How the poor bear the burdens of America's pollution. "
New Orleans Times-Picayune ".
* [http://www.junkscience.com/news/canceralley.htm Did You Hear? Good News from Cancer Alley] , Michael Gough, Cato Institute.
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A760420 Cancer Alley]
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