A report by Dr. Miguel San Sebastián and Dr. Juan Antonio Córdoba
Departamento de Pastoral Social del Vicariato de Aguarico
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Medicus Mundi
June 1999
Commissioned by the Departmento de Pastoral Social del Vicariato Apostólico of Aguarico and completed in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, this study focused on the community of San Carlos, in the Orellana province near the former Texaco pumping station of Sacha Sur and 30 surrounding functioning wells. The study’s analysis of water samples from rivers used by the community found the concentration of total hydrocarbons in the water to be as high as 288 times the European Community’s acceptable limit for drinking water.
After providing an extensive review of the published information on the known impacts of oil on the health of animals and humans, the study’s authors linked this environmental contamination from oil development around the community to a high numbers of cancers in the area and a high rate of spontaneous abortions. The study found that the risk of developing cancer in the male population was 2.3 times the expected rate, and the risk of developing rare cancers such as cancer of the larynx and bile duct were 30 and 18 times the expected rate, respectively. The mortality rate from cancer was recorded to be 3.6 times expected levels in the male population, and for rare cancers was considerably higher than the expected rate, with the mortality rate from melanoma at 70 times expected level for males. The rate of spontaneous abortions in the affected population was 2.5 times the rate of spontaneous abortion in communities in the area not exposed to the contamination, or some 9.8% of all pregnancies in the affected communities.
The full report is available from the links below.
