A Boston-area hospital is investigating after five nurses who have worked on the same floor have developed brain tumors.
Mass General Brigham Newton-Wellesley Hospital said that in total, 11 employees from the fifth-floor maternity unit identified health concerns.
Two of those have the most common, benign type — meningioma, according to the hospital in Newton, Massachusetts, which is about 10 miles west of Boston.
It ruled out disposable masks, the water supply, nearby x-rays, and chemotherapy treatment on the floor below, the hospital said.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association, the union that bargains for nurses' compensation at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, said it will continue to investigate.
The union indicated that nurses came forward with workplace health concerns, which led to the discovery of those with tumors.
“The hospital only spoke to a small number of nurses, and their environmental testing was not comprehensive,” he said in his statement. »