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State study finds higher-than-expected incidence of an auto-immune disease in South Boston; experts don't know why
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Wasn't there a 20/20 or Dateline feature on this a few years ago
Not necessarily Lupus but there was a known cluster of people who grew up in South Boston in the 50s and 60s who had a high incidence of some sort of neurological/autoimmune disorders. The theory was that the flight pattern directly over the area and lesser pollution controls means that jet fuel was dumped into pleasure bay and the surrounding beach areas. That plus the other pollution in the Harbor was a nasty combination of chemicals that kids were swimming in at those beaches.
They looked at those
And apparently didn't find any link to either jet fuel or swimming in the bay.
Interesting
I also wonder about those huge oil tanks across from the cruise terminal. There used to be about six of them but I think they removed all but one. No drinking water wells in the area though, so who knows.
I’ve started to have second
I’ve started to have second thoughts about living in Southie.
Not sure what’s causing it (Jet fuel, cars, or the coal substation down by summer st), but after about a week or two of letting your car sit, you’ll come back and notice a thin, black sooty layer of something on it. Living on the north side of the broadways for about two years, I’ve also noticed it on the window sills and even collecting on the sideing of the house.
That can’t be good….
I lived over in Andrew Square for a year also, and don’t remember seeing this sooty grime over there. It’s further away from both the planes and the plant, and also downhill due south from broadway.
Horses, not Zebras
L street was a huge local pollution source. There are also numerous bus and truck depots in the area. These should be amongst the first items to be investigated. Problem is, the sources overwhelm the local population and Boston is extremely geostratified - difficult to find a contrast to calculate an odds ratio or relative risk without a comparison group.
Boston Edison
Ever think of the power plant? Edison used to have hiccups in the stacks that would ruin the paint jobs on nearby cars. They would pay for new paint jobs, no questions asked. If they can ruin the paint on a LeSabre, what do you think they can do to your lungs?
I really hated swimming in the water there as a kid. Nothing like a nice brown slime on the bottom and on the surface along with your parents unwillingness to drive to Nantasket.
On a lighter note, does this disease cluster also make its victims prone to massive double parkingitis?
It's never Lupus!
It's never Lupus!
Scleroderma/Lupus
No link was made to Logan Airport for the simple reason that there was no funding to study it. Channel 5 erroneously reported this. I was at the meeting and it was very informative. The state Dept. of Public Health did a tremendous job. This was in spite of some problems. One major one was the lack of response or cooperation on the part of residents (and former ones) in talking to people from DPH. People had to be picked at random. There were many 'volunteers', but to make the study accurate, no volunteers could be used. Suzanne Condon, who lead the study, said that they could not establish the cause of this. Take your pick. Edison, the old MBTA power plant, White Fuel/Coastal Oil, Logan. One or any combination of these things caused these diseases. On one block alone there are three people who are diagnosed with scleroderma. They have moved since their childhood but the fact that at one time these people lived within 100 yards of each other says something.
gee... ya think
now if only "the state" would figure out why we have cluster cases of rare pediatric kidney diseases in Malden and Everett, maybe they'll acknowledge that some of the industrial stuff they're supposed to be keeping an eye on is not up to standards. Seriously, when you have 3 children born with 6 months of each other IN THE SAME NEIGHBORHOOD all born with a rare kidney disease, do NOT tell the parents it's "an odd coincidence...." just look into it. Don't dismiss the cluster like you did a few years before that and the cluster before that with the "well, lots of kids were born without issues in that neighborhood....." I don't believe in coincidence when it comes to disease clusters. Never have, never will and it pisses me off my son has had to deal with more in his 18 years than most adults ever had to deal with over the course of their life.