Can a House Cause Cancer?

[AndyLate]

I am considering buying a property from my brother. Long story short, my (young) niece was diagnosed with leukemia and bone cancer while they lived in the home and a previous resident died of cancer while living in the home. My SIL feels very strongly that no one should live in the house (I should demolish the house and build on the lot).

Barring asbestos or radon (there is not a history of lung cancer) is this a real concern? Can a house cause cancer?

We plan to move my FIL into the house if we keep it intact, and I'm pretty fond of him. On the flip side, demolishing and building a home will run about $60,000 over refurbishing the current home, and I would like to keep that money if possible.

Thanks

Andy

[Whiskey_Bravo]

Of course it can, or at least what's in it or what it was built out of can. If you are worried I am sure there are services that could do extensive testing. Check insulation, ducts, flooring material, exterior siding, etc. Also don't forget water pipes.

Depending on the age of the home asbestos flooring, siding, and insulation was common. But you never know what some jackwagon used as construction material at some point in the past.

[The_War_Wagon]

I'd have some serious water testing done; ground water and in the pipes!

This neighborhood wasn't built on a reclaimed WWII chemical dump or some such, was it? What's the cancer rate of the neighbors?

[PracticalRifleman]

All people have cancer. Seriously. A healthy person has an average of seven cancerous cells at a given time but their immune system keeps it in check.

Of course certain exposures can cause cellular defects that lead to cancers.

The truth is, cancer can “run in families”. Certain people are genetically predisposed of cancer. That’s why you have the anecdotal stories of “grandpa is healthier than a horse, ate half a dozen eggs and a side of bacon for breakfast every day and smoked four packs of Marlboros and lived in a house with lead paint and asbestos and he’s 103 now” and “my aunt has lung cancer, she never smoked a day of her life”.

The better question would be is this a coincidence (most likely) or is there something obvious wrong with the house? It sounds very much like your SIL is superstitious. Get a normal inspection and history on the house and rock on.


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[Averageman]

Yes, a house, or the ground or water can cause cancer.
I'm not sure at this point who you need to contact, but I would look in to it.
We had a weird event happen like you described, but it was a whole neighborhood.
In a ten city block area (about 40 houses) there were about five kids with cancer, as years passed another four or five from the same neighborhood died later.

[gaijin]

Radon (gas) is a thing.

Common in my area to test basements for it.

And as said; era/materials the home was built with can be contributing factors.

[PracticalRifleman]

A few years ago, my MIL commented there was something going on in their county and town. She commented “an uncanny number of people here die of cancer, it must be the mine just west of here”.

Most of the people she referenced had lung cancer; convincing her that the air was polluted with toxins from the mine.

I decided to do some digging. Sure enough, there was a higher rate of cancer compared to the national average, in their county by the time of 10 or 15%. Health department surveys also showed that residents of the county to also smoked at 3x the national average, and a small fraction of the population had a primary care physician—and nearly half the county was below the poverty line.

When you hear the hoofs, should you think zebra or should you think horsie? I believe there was a better explanation than the conspiracy theory.


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[chuckman]

Sure can, for all the reasons mentioned. Your niece and the previous, unrelated occupant had cancer? That may be a coincidence, but I am not a fan of coincidences; the probability is just too high that there is a nexus.

[Alex V]

Sure... Just ask the people who lived in Love Canal.

Unless there is a large area of contamination like a superfund sight near by the most likely culprit is Radon. Assuming the home isn't far from where your data says you are, Norther Alabama is between Zone 2 or 3, moderate to low hazard. That doesn't mean that there can't be a pocket of higher concentrations. I would have the home tested.

Also, if the house is on a well, the well could be contaminated with any number of carcinogens.

Building materials can include asbestos, tile, insulation, plaster.

Also could be something local, for instance, a large number of people in my wife's neighborhood, including her family, worked for Johns Manville. Her uncle died of mesothelioma, his wife of cervical cancer, aunt from mesothelioma as well. Next door neighbor who was like an uncle to her from mesothelioma along with 3 others on the block.

[mark5pt56]

The neighborhoods around Mt Trashmore in Va. Beach have a higher rate of cancers. It's a huge garbage dump, made a mountain, covered it with dirt and lakes around it, all drain into and through those neighborhoods. There's a second one next to CBN university.

[Arik]

Have a Navy/Air Force base near by? My area had issues starting in the 70s. The firefighting foam they used seeped into the ground water. Then it turned out the water treatment plant was contaminated too.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.inquirer.com/news/pfas-cleanup-air-force-water-contamination-willow-grove-dean-20200103.html%3foutputType=amp

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1101736

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[AndyLate]

Thank you for the replies.

I did not mean to be vague about the location. It is in the Black Hills of SD, on city water. House was built in the 1930s-1940s, stick built with a rock basement/cellar and partial crawl space. Lath and plaster, wood floors. 90% certain it was built on a clean/virgin site. Asbestos is possible, as is lead paint. Neither cause leukemia or bone cancer though. No military bases or industry nearby. Normally Radon is a concern with newer less "leaky" homes but it's certainly worth testing.

If possible, I would like to simply make the repairs necessary to be liveable/safe and let my father in law reside there rent free until he no longer needs a home. It would also serve as a "Plan B" in the event of economic/employment collapse - I'm paying cash, and not a great deal of it. The idea of owning property and owing nothing is attractive. Sans mortgage payments, my wife and I can live fine on my mil retirement and disability.

The lots (.5 acre) are worth more than I am paying for the house. Demolishing and building new would be a good investment, but I'm trying to do this as afforably as possible for the next year or two.

Andy

[SomeOtherGuy]

Thank you for the replies.

I did not mean to be vague about the location. It is in the Black Hills of SD, on city water. House was built in the 1930s-1940s, stick built with a rock basement/cellar and partial crawl space. Lath and plaster, wood floors. 90% certain it was built on a clean/virgin site. Asbestos is possible, as is lead paint. Neither cause leukemia or bone cancer though. No military bases or industry nearby. Normally Radon is a concern with newer less "leaky" homes but it's certainly worth testing.

As others have said, houses and sites can absolutely cause cancer, but nothing you list sounds likely. Suggest having the water tested - city water is no guarantee of safety. And then look to see if there are any other current or recent-past environmental factors that might have caused cancer. That region used to have some metal smelters, for example.

Are there any high voltage power lines nearby? I don't think that's been completely proven but they seem to be associated with leukemia and childhood cancers.

[Coal Dragger]

Thank you for the replies.

I did not mean to be vague about the location. It is in the Black Hills of SD, on city water. House was built in the 1930s-1940s, stick built with a rock basement/cellar and partial crawl space. Lath and plaster, wood floors. 90% certain it was built on a clean/virgin site. Asbestos is possible, as is lead paint. Neither cause leukemia or bone cancer though. No military bases or industry nearby. Normally Radon is a concern with newer less "leaky" homes but it's certainly worth testing.

If possible, I would like to simply make the repairs necessary to be liveable/safe and let my father in law reside there rent free until he no longer needs a home. It would also serve as a "Plan B" in the event of economic/employment collapse - I'm paying cash, and not a great deal of it. The idea of owning property and owing nothing is attractive. Sans mortgage payments, my wife and I can live fine on my mil retirement and disability.

The lots (.5 acre) are worth more than I am paying for the house. Demolishing and building new would be a good investment, but I'm trying to do this as afforably as possible for the next year or two.

Andy

Where in the Black Hills? There used to be a lot of uranium mining in the Black Hills and there was a uranium mill in Edgemont. I know a guy who has an old house in Edgemont with a stone foundation and basement, there is uranium ore in the stone and it will read on a Geiger counter. The uranium mill got rid of the mining tailings by giving it away as fill dirt, resulting in all kinds of higher rates of cancer. Ended up as a superfund site, that’s how my former co-worker found out about his slightly radioactive basement/foundation.

https://pubs.usgs.gov/tei/723/report.pdf

Not to mention the Black Hills Army Ordnance Depot abandoned in the 1960’s down by Provo (spooky damn place), chemical weapons were stored there and disposed of supposedly. The large non-use area near the old base is supposedly not a safe area, and even outside of it there is an ample amount of improperly disposed of ordnance, shell fragments, large bits of shrapnel etc. Years ago a rancher lost a bunch of sheep near there, and no insects or scavengers touched them.... can you say nerve gas? I ended up in the non use area hunting before the feds got serious about re-posting the signs to stay out. Didn’t stay long, lots of stuff exposed by rainwater erosion that looked disturbingly like large arty shells with driving bands. Not sure if they were intact, didn’t care to find out and got on the other side of the fence.

[tog]

Don't overlook pesticides, insecticides that may have been used in the house in the past. chlorinated cyclodienes were once in common use but most of them have now been banned in the US (if I remember correctly!).

[AndyLate]

Where in the Black Hills? There used to be a lot of uranium mining in the Black Hills and there was a uranium mill in Edgemont. I know a guy who has an old house in Edgemont with a stone foundation and basement, there is uranium ore in the stone and it will read on a Geiger counter.

The house is in Hot Springs. I knew about uranium mining in the area, but did not know about the uranium mill in Edgement, that's interesting. I always just thought a lot of railroad workers lived there.

Andy

[Coal Dragger]

Hot Springs has some areas with radon, a friend of mine had to have a radon ventilation system installed in his basement to get rid of it. His test came back way high on the stuff. His house is in a low area with a good sized hill in his back yard that is probably producing the stuff. Up where I am on the side of the hill over looking the river not a big deal since we’re built into the side of the hill/ridge.

[AndyLate]

This is closer to the state home/high school. I think a Radon test is in order no matter what. Living here in N Alabama has definitely made me aware of it.

My wife insists I am crazy buying a house in South Dakota, she says it too cold to even think about moving back. I just like the idea of air that isn't 75% water in the summer and seeing more stars than you can believe.

Andy

[Coal Dragger]

Winter here isn’t that bad, warmest place in SD in winter on average. Those Hot Springs in the name make a difference evidently.

[AndyLate]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I realize it sounds like a dumb question, but I have slowly learned that a lot of people know more than I do.

Andy