Children from a town contaminated by radioactive waste have faced a higher cancer risk throughout life

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-07-17 01:00

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Radioactive waste stored in the open from the effort to develop an atomic bomb in the 1940s contaminated a nearby Missouri creek, and US researchers say the children who grew up nearby have faced a higher risk of cancer throughout their lives. The team recruited 4,209 people from the area who had previously donated their baby teeth for research - now aged between 55 and 77 years old. 24% of the participants reported having had cancer throughout their life, and the researchers say those who lived within a kilometre of the creek had a 44% higher risk of developing cancer compared to those who lived further than 20 kilometres away.