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For first time, federal health officials agree radioactive waste and cancer may be linked
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/radioactive-waste-cancer-federal-health-officials-acknowledge-possible-link/The federal government confirms some people in the St. Louis area may have a higher risk of getting cancer. A recent health report found some residents who grew up in areas contaminated by radioactive waste decades ago may have increased risk for bone and lung cancers, among other types of the disease. The assessment was conducted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As CBS News correspondent Anna Werner reports, the situation is not unique to St. Louis because it's connected to America's development of its nuclear weapons program decades ago. Radioactive wastes persist in soils, and many believe that's why they or a loved one developed cancer. Now for the first time, federal health officials agree, on the record, that's a real possibility.
"You'll never forget the moment they tell you, 'We found lesions on your lung and your liver,'" Mary Oscko told CBS News three years ago.
She had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2013, despite never touching a cigarette. She's now on the last drug her doctors can offer, to hold her cancer at bay.
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