Cancer rate in Fort Chipewyan cause for alarm: medical examiner

Cancer rate in Fort Chipewyan cause for alarm: medical examiner
Last updated Mar 10 2006 08:48 AM MST
CBC News

Northern Alberta's medical examiner has requested an investigation by Health Canada into the unusually high rate of cancer and immune diseases in Fort Chipewyan.

Dr. John O'Connor, a physician and medical examiner for the remote northern community, says the population of 1,200 has been disproportionately affected by a high number of both rare and common cancers.

"I'm having increasing difficulty explaining to myself and to my patients why," said O'Connor, noting the cancer rate in Fort Chipewyan exceeds that of many larger populations.

Elders in the community say they didn't see these kinds of diseases until the oil industry started production near their homes on the southwestern tip of Lake Athabasca.

http://www.cbc.ca/edmonton/story/ed-fortchip20060310.html
http://www.ualberta.ca/~parkland/
http://www.ualberta.ca/~parkland/research/studies/execsum/ESFuelling.pdf