Gensburg L, Pantea C, Fitzgerald E, Stark A, Hwang S, Kim N. Mortality among Former Love Canal Residents. Environmental Health Perspectives [serial online]. February 2009;117(2):209-216. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 13, 2012.
http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=679eff11-ce42-4cbf-ad49-cc16377bfa4a%40sessionmgr113&vid=3&hid=20
The authors at the University of Albany wrote this piece in order to inform anyone reading it about the differences in mortality rates between people living near a super fund site with people who do not. I could not find bias within the article. It was a report of a study without the authors claiming anything. If there is a bias, I would imagine that it can only exist in the discussion section, where some of the results were explained.
This article details a study that observed the mortality rates of the residents or former residents around the then polluted superfund site, 1979-1996, and compared it to New York State residents, people who did not live in as polluted areas. 6,181 former residents were interviewed. In 1996, 725 deaths from 1979–1996 were identified in this cohort, using state and national registries. The mortality rates with those of New York State (NYS) and Niagara County were compared. Survival analysis examined risks by potential exposure to the landfill.
The article, finds the data and results ultimately inconclusive due to regional differences and other factors that affected the study, however, the study did prove that the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was higher for the then residents of the canal, which means that those residents are dying faster than average. The cause may not entirely be the canal, too many factors and events can shape the lives of the residents over a 15 year period, so the study cannot establish the polluted love canal as the cause of death for the deceased residents. But because living near the canal is a common element between all the residents, some blame does indeed rest on the dirty canal.
Because Love Canal was in a situation that the Gowanus Canal is in now, this study can predict the mortality rates of the current Gowanus Canal residents, and what developers and future residents can expect. This canal was in a similar situation that the gowanus canal is in now, and can help create comparisons and make predictions about the future of the Gowanus canal and its inhabitants.
What an interesting article. It sets up a methodology that could be used to assess the long-term health effects of living by the Gowanus. We do need to be careful in direct comparison since the two sites have different contaminants.