TY - JOUR
T1 - Elevated tungsten and cobalt in airborne particulates in Fallon, Nevada
T2 - Possible implications for the childhood leukemia cluster
AU - Sheppard, Paul R.
AU - Ridenour, Gary
AU - Speakman, Robert J.
AU - Witten, Mark L.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Marc Held and staff of Hi-Q Environmental, Inc. for technical assistance on the air samplers; the Analytical Chemistry Group at Missouri University Research Reactor for their assistance with the generation and interpretation of the ICP-MS data; Angelika Clemens, Cindy Fastje, Brian Barbaris, Eric Betterton, Jeffrey Dean, Paris Althouse, Jeff Balmat, Calvin Farris, and Dwayne Sherrill for other assistance; and the volunteer participants of Nevada for allowing air sampling in their backyards. This research was funded in part by the Gerber Foundation and the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation.
PY - 2006/1
Y1 - 2006/1
N2 - Trace metal content was measured in airborne particulates in five towns located in west central Nevada with an emphasis on Fallon, where 16 cases of childhood leukemia were diagnosed recently. Airborne dust samples were collected using portable, high-volume particulate air samplers, and each filter was chemically analyzed by acid-dissolution, inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. Tungsten was the most notable metal in Fallon dust, with cobalt of secondary but still important interest. Tungsten and cobalt were elevated in Fallon relative to comparison towns of west central Nevada, and within Fallon they co-varied closely temporally and spatially. These results were obtained and confirmed in two different collections during two different seasons of the year and using entirely different hardware and different types of filters. By weight of multiple lines of evidence, the source of tungsten and cobalt in airborne particulates in Fallon is probably not natural, but rather a hard-metal facility located in Fallon should tentatively be considered a candidate source of the airborne exposure of these metals within Fallon. Neither tungsten nor cobalt has yet to be definitively associated with childhood leukemia, but cobalt and tungsten carbide together are probably carcinogenic to humans. We concur with calls by others for more research in Fallon, and we recommend that cobalt be added into the toxicological studies, especially as an interactive factor with tungsten.
AB - Trace metal content was measured in airborne particulates in five towns located in west central Nevada with an emphasis on Fallon, where 16 cases of childhood leukemia were diagnosed recently. Airborne dust samples were collected using portable, high-volume particulate air samplers, and each filter was chemically analyzed by acid-dissolution, inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. Tungsten was the most notable metal in Fallon dust, with cobalt of secondary but still important interest. Tungsten and cobalt were elevated in Fallon relative to comparison towns of west central Nevada, and within Fallon they co-varied closely temporally and spatially. These results were obtained and confirmed in two different collections during two different seasons of the year and using entirely different hardware and different types of filters. By weight of multiple lines of evidence, the source of tungsten and cobalt in airborne particulates in Fallon is probably not natural, but rather a hard-metal facility located in Fallon should tentatively be considered a candidate source of the airborne exposure of these metals within Fallon. Neither tungsten nor cobalt has yet to be definitively associated with childhood leukemia, but cobalt and tungsten carbide together are probably carcinogenic to humans. We concur with calls by others for more research in Fallon, and we recommend that cobalt be added into the toxicological studies, especially as an interactive factor with tungsten.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=29144494836&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=29144494836&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2005.09.012
DO - 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2005.09.012
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:29144494836
SN - 0883-2927
VL - 21
SP - 152
EP - 165
JO - Applied Geochemistry
JF - Applied Geochemistry
IS - 1
ER -