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Published on August 14, 2007

The news comes after the Pollution Control Department and Industry Ministry asserted there were reductions in airborne volatile organic compounds in the area.

Silpakorn University scientist Renu Vejaratpimol said almost half of the 404 Map Ta Phut residents participating in her study exhibited DNA damage from cancer-causing agents.

Renu studied the buccal cells of 304 students and 100 adults in the community earlier this year. Buccal cells are from the inner lining of the mouth or cheek.

Renu tested the DNA found in the cells for incidence of cancer and compared results with levels elsewhere in the country.

The findings confirm Map Ta Phut people living near industrial, petrochemical and power plants for almost two decades have higher levels of carcinogen-damaged DNA.

She found 187 participants - 68 of whom were students - exhibited greater-than-normal DNA damage. Normal levels are 10 in every 1,000 cells.

Among the study participants, six students and five adults exhibited damage to between 25 and 30 cells in every 1,000 cells - or 2.5 to three times the average.

The results are similar to those in a joint International Agency for Research on Cancer and National Cancer Institute of Thailand study conducted nine years ago.

In 1998 the World Health Organisation's agency and the national institute studied carcinogen damage in DNA of 81 Map Ta Phut industrial-estate employees, 71 nearby residents and 50 others.

It found damage in workers and residents was 1.9 and 1.4 times higher than in people from other areas.

However, because carcinogens can be found anywhere in the environment, Renu said it was impossible to point the finger at estate factories as the source of carcinogens in the Map Ta Phut subjects.

"But the results can be interpreted as showing there is something wrong with the Map Ta Phut environment. And we can clearly see one factor where Map Ta Phut differs from other places is its cluster of petrochemical factories emitting volatile organic compounds; some of these are cancer-causing agents, Renu told The Nation.

Srinakharinwirot University occupational-diseases expert Dr Chatchai Ekpanyaskul said DNA damage could be an indicator of risk of cancer.

However, he said it did not mean all people with DNA damage had cancer. Human bodies can repair DNA damage.

"Only those whose bodies have lost the ability to repair DNA damage will suffer from cancers," he said.

Renu's results agree with the latest cancer-institute survey that found within the past eight years the number of children born in Rayong with disabilities due to cancer increased threefold.

The incidence of cancer at Map Ta Phut became a national health concern after the institute paper revealed rates in residents between 1997 and 2001 were 182 cases in every 100,000 people.

Seven in every 100,000 contracted leukaemia. That is two to three times the national average.

Between January and September last year, 312 people in Rayong died from cancers.

Renu called on the government to take note of her research and pinpoint the cause of DNA damage in Map Ta Phut residents. The Industrial Council of Thailand has sought a copy of her paper.

The results come as the Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning Office approved the expansion of Asia Industrial Estate at Map Ta Phut.

This will see more gas-separation plants, an oil refinery and 19 petrochemical plants built at the 700-rai Asia Industrial Estate at Map Ta Phut.

The approval followed the Pollution Control Department report suggesting air quality was improving.

Director Supat Wangwongwattnana said volatile organic compounds - including carcinogens such as benzene and 1,2-Dichloroethane - in six communities near estates were now at safe levels.

In late 2005, the department reported 40 volatile organic compounds were found in area air testing.

Nineteen were carcinogenic and average 24-hour levels exceeded United States Environmental Protection Agency maximums.

Pennapa Hongthong,

Janjira Pongrai

The Nation