By By Greg Sukiennik,The Berkshire Eagle

Copyright berkshireeagle

PITTSFIELD — A state study found no consistent increase in cancers linked to PCB exposure over the past 24 years in Pittsfield and four other towns along the Housatonic River, the Department of Public Health reported.

The study, undertaken at the request of the Pittsfield City Council, looked at the number of cancer cases in Pittsfield, Lenox, Lee, Stockbridge and Great Barrington between 2000 and 2019, using data from the Massachusetts Cancer Registry.

The study found no consistent elevated occurrences in three types of cancer that have been tied to PCB exposure: breast cancer, liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The study also found that cancer cases were spread across the area, with no evidence of clusters in any particular neighborhood, specifically near the former General Electric Co. facility in Pittsfield or downstream along the Housatonic.

The City Council’s Public Health and Safety subcommittee asked for a study in 2021, amid concerns about the threat posed by PCBs in landfills near Allendale Elementary School. At the time, advocates noted it had been 20 years since the last such public healthy study.

In 2023, the state agreed to the study and said it would evaluate cancer data in Pittsfield and downriver towns for possible trends.

The results mirror the findings of a cancer incidence study conducted in 2002, which analyzed data from 1982 through 1994 in the same five communities.

David O. Carpenter, the Vincent O’Leary Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the University at Albany, has studied the connections between PCBs and human health. He said state Department of Public Health researchers “did a credible job with the data they had,” but felt the report could have done more to emphasize the connections between PCBs, a known probable cause of cancer, and increased risk of cancer and other health problems.

“PCBs almost certainly increase the risk of every kind of cancer. That doesn’t mean they’re the only cause of cancer by any means,” Carpenter told The Eagle.

From the late 1920s to the late 1970s, General Electric used polychlorinated biphenyls in the manufacturing of power transformers at its Pittsfield plant until they were banned as a probable cause of cancer. General Electric disposed of PCBs in the East Branch of the Housatonic River, and in 2000 signed a consent decree in which it agreed to remove the chemical from the plant and the river. The river is still posted with advisories warning anglers and hunters not to consume fish and waterfowl taken from the river.

The newest Department of Public Health study did detect elevated levels of colorectal cancer in Pittsfield, Lee and Lenox and “sustained but not statistically significant elevations” of bladder cancer in Pittsfield males between 2000 and 2019.

But the report states that the colorectal cancer levels are likely influenced by factors such as tobacco use, diet and age, and that bladder cancer — which it says is not associated with PCB exposure — is likely linked to tobacco use “and may also be associated with workplace exposure to certain industrial chemicals.”

Dr. Charles Kenny, the board chairman of the Tri-Town Board of Health, said he has yet to fully review the report. While he’s pleased the findings don’t show elevated levels of PCB-related cancers, he’s concerned about the increase in colorectal and bladder cancers, which are associated with tobacco use.

The Tri-Town Board of Health serves three of the towns in the study — Lenox, Lee and Stockbridge.

“Tri-Town has been one of the leaders in Berkshire County in trying to combat tobacco use,” Kenny said. “[That is] especially valuable considering what the Department of Public Health has found.”

The study used data from the Massachusetts Cancer Registry from 1995-2019. The data was provided in April of last year, was analyzed by the state agency’s Bureau of Climate and Environmental Health and underwent internal scientific and administrative review.

The 2002 Department of Public Health study found that “for the majority of cancer types evaluated, residents of the Housatonic River Area did not experience excessive rates of cancer incidence” between 1982 and 1994 and “did not suggest a relationship to PCB exposure.”

Carpenter also noted that the relatively small size of the sampled population in the 2002 study would affect the finding, or lack thereof, of “cancer clusters” in areas where PCB exposure was likely.

“For example, around Allendale Elementary School: There’s no way you find a pattern if you’re looking around a few blocks. So I don’t take those results very seriously,” he said. “But the overall results — looking at the whole of Pittsfield, the whole of Lee — they give you a sense of there not being a clear pattern and that’s about all you can say about it.”

In 2023, nine current and former Allendale residents or their surviving families sued General Electric, Monsanto and its spinoffs, claiming exposure to PCBs at Allendale Elementary School and in the neighborhood adjacent to GE property led to serious health problems, including cancers.

The lead case, brought by Crystal Czerno of Pittsfield, alleged that her son’s exposure to PCBs at Allendale Elementary School caused a rare form of leukemia. Another one of the plaintiffs, Diane Romero, died of breast cancer months after her case was filed.

In the study, researchers looked at whether cancer rates in the area were higher than normal by comparing local cases with what would be expected in a typical population. They did this for all five towns and each of Pittsfield’s 11 neighborhoods, checking the numbers in five-year chunks.

“While a pattern of elevation in colorectal cancer over time was identified in Pittsfield, Lee and Lenox, no consistent elevations across time or across communities were found for the three cancer types with stronger evidence in the scientific literature of an association with exposure to PCBs,” the report said.

According to the report, the link between PCB exposure and colorectal cancer is still unclear. Some studies suggest a connection, while others do not. In this study, people diagnosed with cancers most often linked to PCBs lived in patterns that matched overall population density, with no unusual concentration near the former GE site or along the downstream areas of the Housatonic River, according to the report.

Carpenter felt the report underplayed the potential connection between PCBs and colorectal cancer.

“The evidence is not super-strong, but publications show it’s related,” he said.

Based on the findings, the Bureau of Climate and Environmental Health pledged to work with the state to increase colorectal screenings in Pittsfield, Lenox and Lee; encourage tobacco-free efforts in Pittsfield, Lenox and Lee; and re-evaluate the incidence of colorectal cancer in Pittsfield, Lenox and Lee and bladder cancer in Pittsfield when five more years of incidence data are available from the Massachusetts Cancer Registry.