A hospital in the Boston region investigates after five nurses who worked on the same floor developed brain tumors.
Mass General Brigham Newton-Welsley Hospital said that in total, 11 maternity employees on the fifth floor had identified health problems. Five had brain tumors, which are all benign. Two of them have the most common Benin type – meningioma, according to Newton Hospital, Massachusetts, about 10 miles west of Boston.
“The survey did not find any environmental risk that could be linked to the development of a brain tumor,” said Jonathan Sonis of the hospital, associate doctor-chief, and Sandy Muse, head of nursing, in a statement.
The hospital said that its investigation had been completed in collaboration with government officials in health and safety and that it had envisaged multiple possible sources. He excluded disposable masks, water supply, X-rays nearby and chemotherapy treatment on the ground below, the hospital said.
“Based on these results, we can reassure our dedicated team with confidence … and all our patients that there is no environmental risk in our establishment,” said the administrators.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association, the union which negotiates for the remuneration of nurses at the Newton-Wellesley hospital, said that it would continue to investigate.
“Right now, the best way to help you are to conduct an independent scientific investigation,” MNA spokesman Joe Markman said on Friday. “This effort is underway and can take additional weeks.”
The union said the nurses presented health problems in the workplace, which led to the discovery of people with tumors.
“The hospital spoke only a small number of nurses, and their environmental tests were not complete,” he said in his declaration. “The hospital cannot make this problem disappear by trying to provide a predetermined conclusion.”
A spokesperson for a state agency has not been able to provide conclusive information on the issue by Deadline. Federal officials of occupational health and safety did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The American Cancer Society says that to respond to the definition of a cancer cluster, events must be the same type, in the same area, with the same cause, and affecting a number of people “larger as expected” when a basic line for occurrences is established.
“In the United States, almost 4 out of 10 people are developing cancer in their lifes,” said the company on its cancer clusters web page. “So it is not uncommon for several people in a relatively small area to develop cancer at the same time.”
