No strong evidence linking environmental exposure to cancer cases
While concerned about the issues relating to cancer, The Commission on the Seacoast Cancer Cluster Investigation did not identify any proven connection between environmental threats on the Seacoast and pediatric cancer cases. A major focus of this study was the Coakley Landfill located in North Hampton and Greenland. Rye State Senator Dr. Tom Sherman and Greenland State Representative Dennis Malloy served on this commission.
The Commission reported its findings July 14, 2022 after nearly 5 years of study beginning with a Governor Hassan created task force to look into a possible link between PFOA/PFAS chemicals and cancer cases in the Seacoast.
Now, NH Gubernatorial candidate and chair of the orginal task force Dr. Tom Sherman says “it makes me concerned that we still don’t understand the cause of the cancer clusters.” “It didn’t rule our any connections between any of the contaminants or sites of concern, it simply says we dont’ have enough data to have a causal relationship.”
The Coakley landfill site in Greenland and North Hampton became the focus of the Commission when it was discovered by the original task force that PFOA/PFAS chemicals were dumped in that landfill that the EPA declared a Superfund site.
The Commission recommended:
Continuing the “assessment of environmental exposures in the Seacoast area, including but not limited to, the Coakley Landfill and “other possible exposure sites that could contribute to chronic disease and cancer.”
Continuing the assessment of the “health impacts of PFAS at the local, state, and federal levels in an effort to maximize protection from adverse effects.”
Updating relevant committees about the results of ongoing studies at Coakley Landfill, including the long anticipated Deep Bedrock Study to determine groundwater flow at the site and advising DHHS and DES to “continue to educate communities and providers on the impact of environmental exposures, including PFAS and related contaminants.”