Elevated cancer rates found near Kansas chemical spill

Published May 6, 2023 11:05 AM

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas health officials have identified elevated levels of liver cancer among people living in several historically Black neighborhoods in Wichita where groundwater was polluted by a rail-yard chemical spill. The Wichita Eagle reports that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment released a study Friday that found a liver and biliary tract cancer diagnosis rate of 15.7 per 100,000 people in the contamination zone. Among non-Hispanic Black residents, the diagnosis rate was 23.9 per 100,000. That is compared with 6.4 diagnoses per 100,000 people in Kansas and 8.0 per 100,000 in the surrounding county.

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The Associated Press

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