Love Canal Disaster
By: Olivia Farinas
“Well, I’ve got some heart problems. And I had an enlarged spleen removed. It was twelve and a half pounds.”
-Love Canal Resident
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"There’s a high rate of cancer among my friends. "It doesn’t mean anything.”
-County Health Commissioner, Dr. Clifford​
As many of the residents started experiencing a multitude of cancers and other health problems, many "officials" and other "specialists" seemed to ignore these incidences. They didn't believe that there was any correlation between the chemicals and the health impacts. However, the weird sludge in people's basements or even the rocks that exploded would be the cause of all of their trauma. Miscarriages and birth defects were especially prominent during the 70s.
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Miscarriages increased by 300%, and from 1974 to 1978, 56% of children in Love Canal were born with a birth defect.
One woman’s grandchildren had birth defects, including a granddaughter born with a cleft palate, extra row of teeth, and an intellectual disability. Another grandchild was born with an eye defect.
Chemicals in Love Canal and their toxic effects
Liver cancer, lymphoma, and leukemia cases in LC are higher than expected (particularly women) for 1955-1977
Expected vs. observed cases of respiratory cancers from 1966 to 1977 in different census tracts Love Canal
Love Canal Experiences First-Hand
Behind the daunting statistics lies actual people who struggled (and are continuing to struggle) with various conditions. It can be hard to put into perspective what is going on without context of the people or conditions themselves.
As people became more and more worried, environmental samples were taken in the area, and a total of 88 chemicals were reported, of which 11 were carcinogenic. When the EPA took blood from people, their chromosomes had breakage, meaning genetic damage, birth defects, and mutations. Even two EPA officials were held hostage by Lois Gibbs once people had found out the results (shown to the right).
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Renee Retton: (shown at right)
She was born during the peak hours of the Love Canal tragedy. She has an arterial birth defect, deformed teeth, thyroid disease, pernicious anemia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and various auto-immune conditions.
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Her family endured their fair share of health conditions as well. She had an unborn sister who would be named Julie Ann but was sadly miscarried. Her brother recently had a growth removed from his back, while her father, Joseph, had stage-four pancreatic cancer, but he passed away. Her mother had many breast cancer scares.
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Michelle Brown Skiba:
She developed rheumatoid arthritis and had a growth removed from her knee. She never developed her second teeth. Her mother had 6 miscarriages before leaving Love Canal. One of her parents passed from cancer, and the other passed from a diabetes-associated heart condition.
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To learn more about the health impacts from chemicals:
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Outlining the stats of the epidemiological investigations performed
Stories about victims and survivors
References
Brown, M. H. (2020, May 12). Love canal and the poisoning of America. The Atlantic. Retrieved April 23, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1979/12/love-canal-and-the-poisoning-of-america/376297/
Department of Health. Love Canal - Public Health Time Bomb. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2022, from https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/investigations/love_canal/lctimbmb.htm
DnetSvg. (2007). Unilateral incomplete cleft lip (left side). Wikimedia Commons. en.wikipedia. Retrieved April 23, 2022, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CleftLip1.svg.
Donaldson James, S. (2009, April 14). Love Canal's Lethal Legacy Persists. ABC News. Retrieved April 23, 2022, from https://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5553393&page=1
Janerich, D. T., Burnett, W. S., Feck, G., Hoff, M., Nasca, P., Polednak, A. P., Greenwald, P., & Vianna, N. (1981). Cancer Incidence in the Love Canal Area. Science, 212(4501), 1404–1407. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1686797
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Love Canal: Case study in contamination. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrWtd1P-NoU
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Love Canal – Center for Health, Environment & Justice. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2022, from http://archive.chej.org/archive.chej.org/about/our-story/love-canal/
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Traver, J. (n.d.). Lois Gibbs (left) holds Epa official Dr. James Lucas hostage in the Love Canal Homeowners Association building in 1980. Timeline. Getty Images. Retrieved April 23, 2022, from https://timeline.com/love-canal-toxic-waste-a0213cad24a2.
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