New Hampshire officials says a new report has found higher-than-average concentrations of cancer-causing toxins in Bethlehem, but they said it can’t be shown that they represent a public health risk to the community.
Residents believe that elevated cancer rates in the area are linked to a local landfill.
Between 1991 and 2005, Bethlehem had elevated rates of cancer such as leukemia, breast cancer and pancreatic cancer. State epidemiologist Dr. Jose Montero says there’s not enough information to determine what’s causing the spike, but he’s going to investigate.
Montero said that even though he is going to take a closer look into the high cancer rates in Bethlehem, he said it will be difficult to prove or disprove a connection to the landfill.
From sampling the nearby Ammonoosuc River, the state discovered elevated levels of arsenic, and air monitoring detected arsenic and chromium six.