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A Study On Childhood Cancer

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Background

A study was conducted in Sierra Vista, Arizona and Churchill County, Nevada

concerning an increase in childhood cancer cases between the age of 0.8 and 12.8 years old.

Between the two locations, 14 children with Leukemia were chosen to take place in this study.

The children were compared based off of demographics, urinary and blood levels (metals,

tungsten, pesticides, etc.) as well as location of residence compared to the rest of the U.S.

Population. Variables were used in the determination of whether or not environmental exposure

was the cause of the increase in cancer related cases among children and to determine if this was

indeed a cancer cluster. The results indicated that these findings were not a cancer cluster, but

yet individual cancer cases.

Discussion

The statistical test that was done for table 3 was the geometric mean in order to compare

the three groups. This type of test takes the average of a set of numbers. It is derived by taking

the nth root of the product of n numbers. The geometric means of urinary levels of tungsten in

Sierra Vista, AZ and Churchill County, NV were compared with the levels in the U.S.

population. The test determined that only 20% of the children in AZ had higher levels of

tungsten and about half had levels below the national average. The data for Sierra Vista and

Churchill County are not statistically significant; however, the data for the U.S. Population is

statistically

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