The study used data from the Morris Animal Foundation's Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, which enrolled dogs with multicentric canine lymphoma and matched unaffected dogs.
The researchers mapped the dogs' home addresses using special geospatial software to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency radon zones and active fracking wells. Ashleigh Tindle, a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, expressed surprise at the lack of correlation, given similar connections found in children with leukemia living near fracking sites and the now-known human health risks associated with said exposure in connection to cancer that continues to rise in human medicine.
The study focused on county-level information over a decade but did not have data on individual home radon levels. The enrolled dog population was biased toward those who can afford the veterinary care and seek a definitive diagnosis while fracking wells tend to be near lower-income areas.
The research team recommends follow-up studies, including direct measurements of radon emissions and volatile organic compounds and fracking in the homes of dogs with lymphoma. The next project involves analyzing urine and blood samples from the study to understand how VOCs and herbicide exposures could alter a dog's DNA, potentially creating a biomarker of later lymphoma development.
Unfortunately, the cause of lymphoma and Hemangiosarcoma - two of the worst blood cancers in dogs - is not known. Although several possible approaches like viruses, bacteria, chemical exposure, and physical factors such as strong magnetic fields have been investigated, the roots of these cancers remains obscure.
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