This article needs more reliable medical references for verification or relies too heavily on primary sources. (October 2021) |
The Clyde cancer cluster was a childhood cancer cluster located in and around Clyde, Ohio, United States. The cluster was classified[1] by the Ohio Department of Health in 2009. In an 11-year interval, ten childhood cancers were documented in an area where 5.3 were expected, and four pediatric brain and central nervous system cancers were reported, in an area where 0.92 were expected. According to the ODH, the odds of this happening without a common cause are less than 1 in 20.[2] No known commonality exists between the cases, and despite years of investigation no cause has been found.
After the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency carried out soil tests in the Whirlpool Corporation's former corporate park, Whirlpool Park, in Green Springs, Ohio, it was apparent that soil on the property contained polychlorinated biphenyls. Whirlpool Corporation faced two lawsuits, perhaps the most notable one being Brown v. Whirlpool Corporation, of which the main plaintiff was Wendy Brown, as the park is perhaps the most well known suspected[by whom?] cause of the cluster. This lawsuit was dismissed in 2014, and the other, Sandusky County v. Whirlpool Corporation, was withdrawn in 2015. In January 2016, the EPA reported that Whirlpool Park had been cleared of PCB contamination.[3]