Florida Officials Investigate Possible Cancer Link to Groundwater Contamination in Brevard County
The base is in Brevard County, where an unusually high number of cancer cases among young people has been reported.
Residents and officials of an east-central Florida county are raising the alarm over a potential link between increased cases of cancer in young people and chemicals detected in the groundwater of a nearby Air Force base.
The report noted that all 28 groundwater monitoring stations on Patrick Air Force Base tested positive for the chemicals.
The report also noted that no testing was conducted off the base located between Satellite and Cocoa beaches in Brevard County, where a cluster of cancer cases among people in their 20s and 30s has been reported.
She is one of 20 or so Satellite High School alumni who graduated around the same time and have been diagnosed with cancer, Florida Today reported.
"We would drink the sprinkler water," Greenwalt said.
Earlier this week, officials with the Brevard County Public Schools said they would be testing drinking water at area schools for traces of the chemicals.
Nearby Cocoa Beach, which treats sewage from Patrick Air Force Base, announced the same.
In addition to cancer, the chemicals are known to cause birth defects, liver damage, thyroid damage, increased uric acid levels, increased cholesterol and damage to the immune system, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
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