By Chung Hyun-chae
Panic has spread around a small town in Iksan, a northwestern city of North Jeolla Province, after an alarmingly high number of people have developed various types of cancer in a short period of time.
The villagers of the town said Wednesday that 10 out of 80 residents living there have died of lung, stomach and liver cancers and five more have been battling the disease since 2012.
According to a survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 445 out of every 100,000 adults in Korea die of cancer, meaning the nation's average likelihood of cancer is 0.45 percent.
The cancer rate of the town is more than 40 times higher than this.
Following the recent mass outbreak of cancer, the Jeollabukdo Institute of Health & Environment Research in North Jeolla Province is investigating.
The research institution collected samples on Monday to measure water quality of nearby reservoirs and groundwater and emissions from factory chimneys.
The residents suspect a fertilizer plant is the main cause of the high icidence of cancer.
"At the time the plant was established adjacent to the village in the early 2000s, most residents had been drinking from groundwater which we assume was polluted by a water leak from the plant because there was no water supply system," a resident said on condition of anonymity.
Most villagers seem to strongly believe the high incidence of cancer had something to do with water contamination.
"This is because not only old people who are more susceptible to the disease but also healthy people in their 30s and 40s got cancer," Kim Hyun-gu, head of the village, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency.
A similar case occurred three years ago in another village in Namwon, a southeastern city of the same province.
More than 10 out of 30 residents in that village also died of lung cancer.
That village is also near a manufacturing plant making asphalt and concrete.
Although an epidemiological investigation concluded a link was strongly suspected between the cancer spike and the plant, residents could not demand compensation from the plant due to a lack of evidence.
Panic has spread around a small town in Iksan, a northwestern city of North Jeolla Province, after an alarmingly high number of people have developed various types of cancer in a short period of time.
The villagers of the town said Wednesday that 10 out of 80 residents living there have died of lung, stomach and liver cancers and five more have been battling the disease since 2012.
According to a survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 445 out of every 100,000 adults in Korea die of cancer, meaning the nation's average likelihood of cancer is 0.45 percent.
The cancer rate of the town is more than 40 times higher than this.
Following the recent mass outbreak of cancer, the Jeollabukdo Institute of Health & Environment Research in North Jeolla Province is investigating.
The research institution collected samples on Monday to measure water quality of nearby reservoirs and groundwater and emissions from factory chimneys.
The residents suspect a fertilizer plant is the main cause of the high icidence of cancer.
"At the time the plant was established adjacent to the village in the early 2000s, most residents had been drinking from groundwater which we assume was polluted by a water leak from the plant because there was no water supply system," a resident said on condition of anonymity.
Most villagers seem to strongly believe the high incidence of cancer had something to do with water contamination.
"This is because not only old people who are more susceptible to the disease but also healthy people in their 30s and 40s got cancer," Kim Hyun-gu, head of the village, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency.
A similar case occurred three years ago in another village in Namwon, a southeastern city of the same province.
More than 10 out of 30 residents in that village also died of lung cancer.
That village is also near a manufacturing plant making asphalt and concrete.
Although an epidemiological investigation concluded a link was strongly suspected between the cancer spike and the plant, residents could not demand compensation from the plant due to a lack of evidence.
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