No vote yet on cancer inquiry at KC-area elementary school, state panel says
The Missouri Cancer Inquiry Advisory Committee believes more discussions and analysis is needed before moving ahead with concerns about diagnoses at one Liberty elementary school.
In a meeting Wednesday afternoon, the committee determined it was “premature to go to a committee vote on opening an inquiry,” said Lisa Cox, a spokeswoman with the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services.
But state officials said they will continue advising Clay County health leaders who have been working with the school district after six teachers at Warren Hills Elementary have been diagnosed with breast cancer since 2020.
Another determination at this point, Cox said, is there’s “no known exposures of concern based on data from the school that DHSS has reviewed.”
“And no known reason to suspect any of the chemicals associated with breast cancer may impact the school,” she said. “DHSS will review new environmental data as results become available.”
Liberty Public Schools has said it conducted additional testing of water, soil and air quality this past spring and results are expected later this summer.
Jim Pruitt, cancer inquiry coordinator with DHSS, said in the meeting, which streamed online, that the committee deals with situations like the one at Warren Hills “all of the time.”
“We do take these seriously,” Pruitt said, “because cancer is obviously a huge issue, affects a lot of people.
“It’s not always clear the path we need to take. So we just have to go in that step-by-step incremental approach, making sure that we’re doing it according to our policy, and so we’re not missing anything, that we’re considering all the options at each step of the way.”
Six breast cancer cases since 2020
Earlier this month, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the agency and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) are now engaged in the effort to determine if something at Warren Hills is making people sick.
In May, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves — who represents northern Missouri, including Liberty — sought federal assistance for the situation at the school. In a letter to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Graves asked for his help in “uncovering the root causes” of the “concerning” number of cancer cases. In addition to the six breast cancer cases since 2020, there was another one in 2013 and at least three other staff members have had other types of cancer, including throat and cervical.
Overseen by HHS, ATSDR is the only federal health agency that works directly with concerned citizens to address environmental hazards and respond to requests for assistance from communities across the nation, according to its website.
On Wednesday, Cox said DHSS has had discussions with ATSDR about Warren Hills and connected with the National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health.
“Those discussions will continue,” Cox said.
