CT Pratt & Whitney Cancer Study Has Parallels To One in FL

"The handful of tumor cases originally pinpointed by [John] Shea and others triggered a $12 million study designed to find out if working conditions at eight Pratt & Whitney Connecticut plants contributed to cancer. It may be the biggest workplace study of its kind: 223,894 employees spanning 50 years. Results of its second phase are only now being prepared for release, almost a decade after the study began.

That dwarfs the Florida Department of Health's year-old investigation into a cluster of cancer cases in The Acreage. There, 13 children have been diagnosed with brain tumors.

But there are parallels. Both involve a troubling group of brain tumors. Both raise questions from nearby communities about whether chemicals used in jet and rocket manufacturing at a Pratt & Whitney plant contributed to those tumors. In Connecticut, the question was exposure among factory workers employed by the aeronautical giant. In The Acreage, it's a nearby Pratt & Whitney plant with a spotty history of hazardous waste disposal."

Pat Beall reports for the Palm Beach Post March 27, 2010.