Alarming amounts of a potential carcinogen have been found during an ongoing investigation into a troubling spike in cancer cases at a nuclear missile installation in Montana, raising health worries within the military community.
The underground launch command centers at Malmstrom Air Force Base have been linked to several cancer cases, prompting a thorough investigation. Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are a potential carcinogen, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to US News. The investigation reveals the missile installation that exceeded EPA-recommended criteria.
This information is the first noteworthy finding of a thorough assessment carried out by the Air Force Global Strike Command in response to growing cancer concerns expressed by missile troops. The Command affirmed its commitment to swiftly resolving the problem and implementing policies to guarantee staff safety.
Air Force Global Strike Command Commander General Thomas Bussiere noted that authorities are implementing "immediate steps to begin the cleanup process" for the concerned installations as well as "reduce exposure risks to our airmen and Guardians."
Hundreds Suffer From Cancer
The Associated Press reported that it had obtained a military briefing that indicated that at least nine current or former missileers stationed at Malmstrom had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare blood disease, before the detection of hazardous PCB levels.
Due to this alarming discovery, the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine launched a thorough investigation into cancer incidences throughout the whole missile community, looking into the likelihood of cancer clusters.
According to the Torchlight Initiative, a more comprehensive range of cancer diagnoses has been documented, composed of former missile launch commanders and their families. Their findings show that at least 268 nuclear missile site workers or their surviving relatives had self-reported cancer, blood ailments, or other illnesses for many decades; 217 of those cases are malignancies, 33 of which are non-Hodgkin lymphomas.
Work-Related Health Risk
The missileer community operates subterranean launch control centers at each of the three US Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile installations with a few hundred military people. The Torchlight Initiative found that this close-knit community had several health issues.
With their special tasks, missileers who wait in underground bunkers for presidential orders to launch Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles are more susceptible to environmental hazards, per the investigation, per Al Jazeera. With problems with ventilation, water quality, and possible pollutants that affect human well-being, the demand for renovating and upgrading these facilities becomes increasingly urgent.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that there are 403 new cancer cases per 100,000 individuals emerge in the US per year, while The American Cancer Society data indicate that there are 19 cases of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma per 100,000 persons.
