Introduction to Ashland Nyanza Health Study

In 1998, residents of Ashland reported to the MDPH that young adults who had lived in the town and played on the Nyanza Chemical site as children had recently developed similar types of rare cancers.

The concern focused on a suspected cluster of five young men of similar age that developed various types of soft tissue sarcomas and the possibility that past exposure from the Nyanza Chemical Site may be causing an increase in cancer diagnoses among current and former Ashland residents.

This suspected cluster was reported to have occurred among the population of Ashland residents previously identified by the MDPH in the Public Health Assessment as having the greatest potential for exposure to contaminants at the Nyanza site.

Based on this information, the MDPH initiated the Ashland Nyanza Health Study to further investigate whether historical exposures to contaminants at the Nyanza site could be related to increased cancer diagnoses among children and young adults who lived in Ashland at the time the site was operational.

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