Shakin' Street — A Parkinson's Blog

What’s our government doing when we’re not looking?

Last week I wrote about participating in a Harvard University study of baby teeth from the St. Louis area. The short version:

In the 1950’s, the United States military tested nuclear devices in the Nevada desert. Prevailing winds blew the fallout east, and some of it landed in St. Louis. A group of scientists decided to study the baby teeth of young children who were born or grew up in the St. Louis area. My mom and dad were among the parents who donated teeth to the study.

After I published the blog post about this, a reader alerted me to a related story of alleged government malfeasance that may have affected my health.

According to CNN,

Throughout the nuclear arms race of the 1950s and 60s, the US military feared an enemy attack using biological warfare, according to online government records.

To prepare, according to the National Institutes of Health, the US Army conducted experiments in 33 locations and cities across the country, including St. Louis, to test how an aerosol biological agent might spread in different environments.

Government records show the Army sprayed zinc cadmium sulfide in these dispersion tests, an inorganic compound composed of zinc, cadmium, and sulfur that glows bright yellow under ultraviolet light.

At the time, the NIH said the compound was thought to be harmless to humans, animals and plants. Today, the Army still maintains the substance used was non-toxic.

Most of the spraying in St. Louis was done around Pruitt-Igoe, a large public housing project. According to some reports, the substance was also sprayed

… in the areas of Clayton, the Faulkner Roads, a Knights of Columbus building on South Grand, and a pond east of the St. Louis Science Center’s Planetarium in Forest Park.

I went to elementary school in the 60’s in a suburb next to Clayton, and spent junior high and high school in Clayton itself. I visited the Planetarium many times — sometimes to learn about planets but more often for the “Laser Zeppelin” and “Laser Pink Floyd” shows.

All indications are that the folks who lived in Pruitt-Igoe got much more of this stuff than I did. But it is entirely possible I breathed at least some of it over the years.

Was the material they sprayed harmful? With tumors having been removed from my right lung and my pancreas, I’ve got more than just academic interest in this question.

The Army still says it was not toxic, but CNN points out:

The NIH recommends further testing to determine the toxicity of zinc cadmium sulfide but classifies cadmium sulfide as a hazardous substance that may cause cancer and damage to internal organs as a result of prolonged or repeated exposure.

According to the NIH, chronic exposure to zinc sulfide can cause anemia, lethargy, a decrease in good cholesterol, damage to the pancreatic and reproductive systems. It can also cause ataxia, an illness where people lose control of muscles in their arms and legs, according to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

To make matters worse, there’s a chance the Army was spraying something besides just zinc cadmium sulfide. Journalist Devin Thomas O’Shea, writing in Protean Magazine, reports this

One of the compounds that was sprayed on the public was called “FP2266.” According to the Army documents, FP 2266 was “made by New Jersey Zinc (NJZ) Company and is now made by U.S. Radium Corp.”

FP2266 is a “military nomenclature,” [Dr. Lisa] Martino-Taylor notes, “generally representing a zinc cadmium sulfide mixture which notably does not exclude additives.” Although “FP” might stand for “fluorescent particle” or “fluorescent paint,” the acronym “FP” was also used in similar studies to signify radioactive “fission products” and/or “fallout particles.”

U.S. Radium Corp was infamous for its product Radium 226, a highly radioactive compound that sickened or killed many of the company’s female factory workers, who have made the history books as the cautionary workplace tale of the “Radium Girls.”

Some observers believe, says O’Shea, that FP226 was Radium 226. No definitive proof has surfaced.

When I filled out the Baby Tooth Survey forms earlier this month, this seemed like a cute story. Two weeks later, I’m considerably less amused.

I’m pondering the possibility that I’ve been poisoned by my own government. Twice. That I know of.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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Intriguing Treatment Study
of the Week

The Hawaii Parkinson Association is conducting a study to determine if a combination of speech therapy and harmonica playing increases the benefit to people with Parkinson’s.

It is open to Hawaii residents only.

According to Hawaii Harmonica Project Director Kevin Lockette, PWP’s with speech difficulty often experience softness of voice, difficulty with articulation, and difficulty with pitch and saliva management. All of these things, says Lockette, can be improved with harmonica playing.

This is a randomized crossover study, which means all participants will get harmonica lessons, but not necessarily at the same time.

They are hoping to start assessments in December, and lessons in January. For more information, contact Kevin at kevin@parkinsonshawaii.com.

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Bonus for Those Who Read to the Bottom

To salute Cher’s new memoir, in which she accuses Sonny of stealing all her money here are three very different versions of “I Got You, Babe.”

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