• In 2008, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry announced that residents in a 20-mile stretch of Pennsylvania between the towns of Hazleton and Tamaqua have a higher than normal incidence rate of a rare form of blood cancer called polycythemia vera (PV).FOX News: Government Officials Confirm Cancer Cluster in Pennsylvania (August 26, 2008)

• 1. Symptoms of PV: Blood clots, heart attacks, strokesAgency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: Polycythemia Vera Investigation
  2. Elevated risk for polycythemia vera (PV) found in areaAgency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: Polycythemia Vera Investigation
  3. 131 people in area between 2001 and 2005 reported having or tested positive for PVAgency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: Polycythemia Vera Investigation
  4. Most patients with PV have mutation in gene JAK2Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: Polycythemia Vera Investigation
  5. Half of patients tested had mutation in JAK2Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: Polycythemia Vera Investigation
  6. Some blame former Superfund site run by McAdoo Associates in Schuylkill County for illnessWNEP-TV (Pennsylvania): Cancer Cluster Confirmed (August 26, 2008)
  7. Studies suggest PV may be contracted by exposure to chemicalsAgency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: Polycythemia Vera Investigation
  8. First PV cluster ever discovered by governmentWNEP-TV (Pennsylvania): Cancer Cluster Confirmed (August 26, 2008)

• Industrial Cause?

  Several of those with PV in the area claim that the McAdoo Associates toxic waste site in Schuylkill County was to blame for their illness.WNEP-TV (Pennsylvania): Cancer Cluster Confirmed (August 26, 2008) Several studies suggest that PV could be caused by exposure to certain chemicals such as benzene.Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: Polycythemia Vera Investigation

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