US extends ICBM cancer risk investigation

(RT) ⸻ The US Air Force has launched an investigation of cancer risks for service members at the country's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) installations, formalizing and expanding a probe that was spurred by a report last month of lymphoma cases among missileers who had worked at a Montana base. General Thomas Bussiere, commander of US ICBM forces, approved a comprehensive study of cancer risks at missile bases in Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota, the Air Force announced on Wednesday. Senator Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, said NHL cases among former missileers appear to be far higher than the national average. Missileers can be exposed to a variety of toxins and chemicals, such as radon, asbestos, lead and polychlorinated biphenyls, and health concerns date back to well before the Minuteman era. An investigation of cancer concerns at Malmstrom in 2001 found no increased rates of NHL among missileers.