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FRANKLIN, Ind. (AP) — State health officials say they've found no signs of a childhood cancer cluster despite concerns in a central Indiana county.
Parents in Johnson County have feared environmental causes for childhood cancers in the area. But health officials said during a public meeting Monday night in Franklin that the county's cancer rate for those younger than 20 was slightly lower than the state average from 1999 to 2013.
While the state environmental agency is investigating possible chemical contamination in the county's groundwater from a closed tomato processing plant, Deputy State Health Commissioner Dr. Jennifer Walthall says medical studies haven't linked drinking water to the childhood cancers.
Franklin resident Matt Davidson's 11-year-old son has leukemia and he says the concerned parents aren't giving up their search for the cancer cause.
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