Four teachers at a school built on a toxic landfill dump have developed the same rare form of bladder cancer.
It comes after the earlier this year the water at Buchanan High in Coatbridge , Lanarkshire, had turned blue amid fears it was dangerous to drink.
Three of the four teachers are believed to have worked in the same corridor at the school where pupils and staff were told not to drink the tap water.
Public health expert Professor Andrew Watterson, of Stirling University, said that he was aware of the cancer cluster.
He said: “The reported ill health cases do merit serious investigation and it is understandable staff and pupils are anxious.
“This seems a very big cluster very close together in the building for a very small population of teachers. Establishing if a cluster is causal or random is, however, notoriously difficult.”
In January, the Record reported that teachers at Buchanan and St Ambrose High School – which is on the same campus – feared their health has been affected.
Staff were gagged and threatened with the sack after raising concerns which went back three years. The council only ordered tests and imposed a drinking ban late last year.
Buchanan High has the highest rate for teacher absence in the area.
A group of teachers wrote to local MSP Fulton MacGregor: “We have been told on many occasions, including by both previous head teachers, that the water was not a concern.
‘‘We were told to run taps or boil water. We are outraged with how the council has failed to take our concerns seriously.
“Staff morale is low because we are frightened to say anything in case we implicate ourselves and lose our jobs.”
The campus was built on a site used for a variety of hazardous waste materials such as arsenic, nickel and lead.
The replacement of hundreds of metres of pipework is under way.
A spokesman for North Lanarkshire said: ‘‘While it is regrettable any pupil or member of staff suffers a serious illness, there is no credible evidence to suggest any such illness has been caused by environmental factors or copper previously being present in the water supply.
“The council will continue to write directly to parents about issues of concern and is, of course, happy to discuss these with staff and unions.
“All test results since November last year indicate the supply meets drinking water standards.’’
