My brother lived there 6.5 years. My sister and parents, 7 years.
No one got Leukemia.
However…
My mother was the first to go – got ovarian cancer and died in her mid 60’s. Sad but not suspicious.
My brother got Melanoma in college. Again not suspicious… Skin cancer, even this deadly form, is typically associated with too much sun. We grew up in CA before sunscreen was widely used. It was surgically removed, but he had a lymph node issue in his 30’s that they suspect was metastatic. Again, surgery solved the problem. At age 48, out of the blue, he got a very aggressive, very rare, neuroendicrine carcinoma. (Not to be confused with it’s more common, less aggressive cousin, neuroendicrine carcinoid… this one is rare, and kills quickly). Healthy in July (rode his bike in “Ride the Rockies” in June and “Tour de Wyoming” in July. Multi day rides)… in the hospital in August, dead before Christmas. It is VERY unusual to have two separate, unrelated malignancies.
My father had prostate cancer in his mid 50’s. Again, not unusual. Most men, if they live long enough, will get prostate cancer… if nothing else gets them first. It was dealt with and he was “cured”. Then he got multiple myeloma – a type of blood cancer. He and my brother both learned they had their second cancers within one week of each other in late August 2007. My dad was dead 2 months later. They died 2 months apart. (Fall 2007 sucked for our family).
Did I mention that multiple malignancies are rare?
Family of five that lived under power lines. 3 are dead. 5 cancers between the 3. My sister and I get various screening tests frequently and I paid (not covered by insurance) to make sure I don’t have the BRCA gene.
I can’t say with certainty that the power line caused my family to be a cancer cluster. But I can’t say for certainty they didn’t play a factor.
I’ve heard the theory about cells breaking down, triggering leukemia. I’ve also heard a theory that the dust (normal dust) gets charged – and you breathe it in… so perhaps it’s charged dust that is the problem. Perhaps there’s no issue at all. I can’t say.
All of this is pure anectdote. Might be entirely coincidence. But look at the link I posted – look at the power lines. Even if the odds are small… do you want to risk it?
