"This means no need to go to the hospital," she said.

Last October, the Map Ta Phut resident was diagnosed as having leukaemia, a potentially fatal cancer related to the production of blood cells.

If the test kit she bought for Bt5,000 had revealed an insufficient amount of red blood cells, she would have had to go to Chon Buri's Sirikit Hospital for a blood transfusion. Last year, she had to go there for chemotherapy treatment.

Mod said doctors did not tell her how she got the disease.

"They asked about the environment of my house and only said that it was possible that my immune system might not be good and that I could be affected by some bad things in the environment," she said.

The doctors had not said what the "bad things in the environment" could be.

Growing up in a small house near Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate, which houses about 100 factories, Mod said the smell of chemical substances became part of her life 17 years ago.

Once news about her sickness spread among her old pals who once studied at Phanpittayakarn School, Mod was informed that she was not the only one in

her generation who suffered cancer.

"Last year one of my former classmates died from the disease," she said with tears in eyes.

Located close to the industrial estate, Phanpittayakarn School hit the headlines in 1997 when hundreds of students and teachers were reported as having respiratory problems and needed hospitalisation.

Sulphur dioxide and volatile organic compounds emitted from factories on the estate were said to be the cause of the sickness. The same year, the Education Ministry allowed the school to be relocated far from the estate.

And more than just former students from the school have suffered. A study by the National Cancer Institute showed the ratio of leukaemia among residents of Map Ta Phut was higher than that of people living elsewhere.

Petcharin Sriwattanakul, who conducted the research, said there were 182 cancer cases in every 100,000 people. For leukaemia, the record showed that seven out of every 100,000 people would be sick with the cancer of the blood cells.

Dr Surapol Issarakrisi, a haematologist from Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital who has studied the emergence of leukaemia in Thailand, said a comparative study showed that most acute leukaemia in the Kingdom was caused by risk factors in the environment.

The number one factor was radiation. Surapol said he found out that the leukaemia record among those who worked or lived near high-voltage electricity transmission stations was rising.

"We can't say that the transmission station was the cause. We can only say that the number of leukaemia patients among those exposed to a large amount of radiation was rising," he said.

Though his case records did not show the significance of leukaemia caused by chemicals, Surapol said people exposed to large amounts of chemicals such as benzene would have a higher chance of being affected with the blood cancer.

He was surprised by Petcharin's leukaemia statistics in Map Ta Phut. "Quite a high ratio," he said.

After starting operations in 1990, the 7,000-rai Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate now has almost 100 factories, including 45 petrochemical factories, eight coal-fired power plants, 12 chemical fertiliser factories and two oil refineries.

Analysis of air samples by the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion in 1998 found several cancer-causing volatile organic compounds, including benzene, contaminating the air. The latest study by the Pollution Control Department last October and November found as many as 40 volatile organic compounds in the air at Map Ta Phut, 20 of which were cancer-causing agents.

Moreover, a study last year by Arpa Wangkieat, of Rangsit University's department of environmental engineering, found that natural waterways used by households of 25 communities near the industrial estate were contaminated with heavy metal, including cadmium, iron, lead and manganese. All heavy metals can cause serious health impacts.

Mod was not surprised when told about the cancer statistics and environmental data in her community. She was convinced that her sickness was related to "bad things in the environment" as the doctors told her.

After receiving chemotherapy last year, Mod felt her health getting worse. She lost 26 kilograms within four to five months.

Every day, besides having blood tests at home, she had to take tablets to maintain the balance of her blood-forming system. The tablets cost Bt184 each and she had to take three daily. And twice a month she had to go to the hospital for a more extensive blood test.

Her father had to foot the bill - about Bt20,000 every month.

On the recommendation of doctors, Mod is now waiting for a bone marrow transplant using her brother's cells.

"It was the last hope of my family, so my father was willing to pay. But if you ask me I don't think it will work," she said.

Mod realises that time may not be on her side. She hopes she will be able to see an end to the expansion of Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate and cleaner air in her community - before she takes her last breath.

Pennapa Hongthong

The Nation

MAP TA PHUT, RAYONG