Cancer Cluster Resources by Category

• CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) conducts public health assessments of potentially hazardous waste sites, performs health consultations on specific hazardous substances, designs and conducts health surveillance programs, and provides education and training about hazardous substances. Information about public health assessments conducted by ATSDR can be found on its Public Health Assessments and Health Consultations page.
   
• CDC's National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) works to promote healthy and safe environments and prevent harmful exposures. The NCEH website includes general information about cancer clusters, links to resources, and answers to frequently asked questions.
   
• The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) provides information about environmentally related diseases and health risks, including breast cancer. Every other year, NIEHS prepares the Report on Carcinogens (RoC), a congressionally mandated, science-based, public health report that identifies agents, substances, mixtures, or exposures in our environment that may pose a hazard to human health by virtue of their carcinogenicity. Substances are listed in the report as either known or reasonably anticipated human carcinogens.
   
• Breast Cancer and the Environment: What You Need to Know, What You Can Do addresses concerns about the connection between breast cancer and exposure to toxic substances in the environment. It contains information about which types of substances are either known to cause or likely to cause cancer and what can be done to reduce exposures to them. Additionally, it explains how scientists discover which substances are likely to cause cancer. The booklet provides an extensive overview of environmental causes of or risk factors for breast cancer including lifestyle factors such as diet and physical inactivity, certain medical drugs, hormones, radiation, viruses, bacteria, and environmental chemicals that may be present in the air, water, food, and workplace.
   
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides resources to help communities in taking action on environmental issues to address health concerns. 
   
• The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides information on topics such as biological resources, natural hazards, and water quality.

• CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) provides information about exposures in the workplace known or suspected to cause cancer. The NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) Program investigates potentially hazardous working conditions, including suspected cancer clusters. Employees, union officials, authorized employee representatives, or employers can request an evaluation be done by the HHE program at no cost to them.
   
• The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is committed to protecting workers from toxic chemicals and deadly safety hazards at work and to ensuring a safe and healthful workplace for all Americans. OSHA's Office of Occupational Medicine and Nursing performs workplace-related case evaluations and cluster investigations, including medical record reviews, employee interviews, and medical screening activities. 

• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provides information on health issues affecting veterans, including information on military exposures, as veterans may have been exposed to a range of chemical, physical, and environmental hazards during military service.

• CDC's National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) supports cancer registries in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and 3 territories (Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Republic of Palau).
   
• NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) gathers in-depth data on cancer cases diagnosed in five states (Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, New Mexico, and Utah) and six metropolitan areas (Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco/Oakland, San Jose/Monterey, and Seattle). The metropolitan SEER registries send their data to the NPCR state registries.

• The American Cancer Society (ACS) provides information on cancer (including cancer clusters), research, and services.
   
• CDC's Cancer Prevention and Control Program provides calculation and analysis of cancer incidence rates. 
   
• NIH's National Cancer Institute (NCI) conducts extensive cancer research activities and provides educational materials for the public.
   
• The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) may be a source of information on cancer clusters and state cancer investigations. 

If you have any questions or would like to report a suspected cancer cluster, please email epitox@dshs.texas.gov.

Please Note: Links to external websites are intended to be informational and do not have the endorsement of the Texas Department of State Health Services. These websites may not be accessible to people with disabilities.

Back to Cancer Clusters | Data Requests

Contact TCR