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EVIDENCE has emerged of a possible cancer cluster next to the Queensland hatchery where bizarre double-headed fish embryos have been discovered.

All four households backing on to Cooloothin Creek near the Noosa River-based Sunland Fish Hatchery and a large macadamia plantation have had a cancer death or a cancer diagnosis since fish deformities and deaths began about four years ago.

Sunland Fish Hatchery foreman Bernard Gevers has just begun treatment for suspected bowel cancer.

"When I see what’s happening with the fish hatchery and read about the chemicals being used, it leaves me with a very large suspicion it’s from agricultural chemicals," he said.

Another resident who asked not to be identified said: "The spray drift goes on to our roofs and washes straight into our drinking water."

Roger Arbuckle, the owner and former operator of the plantation — he handed it to another manager last year — is himself in remission from prostate cancer. He emphasised there was no conclusive link between the cancers and the agrichemicals.

But ecotoxicologist Dayanthi Nugegoda, at RMIT University in Melbourne, said: "It’s really concerning that we are using these types of agricultural chemicals."

Professor Nugegoda has read the pathology report on the Sunland fish written last October by Roger Chong of Queensland’s Biosecurity Sciences Laboratory: "The fish are an early warning signal that now there are concentrations high enough to affect a vertebrate … I think its time that we look at this."

Yet despite other circumstantial evidence, including large animal deaths, deformed chicks, abnormal neurological disorders and spontaneous abortions among horses and other animals at the hatchery, little has been done to investigate, said Sunland owner Gwen Gilson.

Veterinarian Ron Glanville — Queensland’s chief biosecurity officer — said he had advised a concerned resident who rang him to contact Queensland Health.

But last night the department said it had not been contacted: "The need for an investigation would be determined once specific information is received from the community about their health concerns."

A spokesman for Acting Premier Paul Lucas encouraged residents to talk to Queensland Health.

Jolyon Burnett, CEO of industry group the Australian Macadamia Society, said the matter was serious.

"Anything that affects the health of our members, their families and the community in which they operation is of significant concern."

Dr Chong’s report — obtained by The Australian — revealed the deaths, deformities and behavioural abnormalities of fish and fish fry were consistent with exposure to types of pesticides and fungicides used to treat the macadamia trees.

Mr Arbuckle notified Ms Gilson that he had used chemicals in those classes: organophosphates and Carbendazim. The regulator has recalled Carbendazim but has no plans to investigate the other chemicals.

Mr Arbuckle also sprayed endosulfan, a pesticide linked to hormone disruption and physical abnormalities in other animals, as well as wetting agents that break down into compounds known to disrupt hormonal production.

Dr Chong found no evidence that infection caused the problems with the hatchery’s yellow belly, silver perch and Australian bass, all of which are native species.

His report fits with findings of an investigation by fisheries veterinarian Matt Landos on behalf of Ms Gilson. "I still have toxic chemical exposure … at the top of my differential diagnosis list," Dr Landos said.

MOTHERS nursing premature babies can halve the risk that their child will have significant developmental problems if they take fish oil supplements to fortify their breast milk.

A study involving hundreds of Australian babies from five hospitals nationwide has shown the frequency of mild mental delay in infants born weighing less than 1250 grams was cut by about 45per cent if their mothers took the   omega-3 supplements.

The biggest benefits were seen in girls, where the rate of mild mental delay was cut by more than 55 per cent, and significant delay by 83 per cent.

Only a small improvement was seen in premature male babies — a gender difference the study’s authors could not readily explain.

Omega-3 fatty acid, also known as docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, is essential for healthy brain and nervous system development. Babies born more than seven weeks’ premature are at high risk of developmental disorders and learning disabilities, as well as physical health problems.

One of the co-authors, neonatologist Andrew McPhee, of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide, said more research was planned to test the “tantalising” possibility higher doses of fish oil supplements rich in omega-3 fatty acids might cut developmental problems still further, and also benefit boys.

“The thing that excites us is the lowered incidence of significant and even mild developmental deficiencies,” Dr McPhee said. “On a population basis, there aren’t too many things that have done anything like that.

“This is a simple nutritional strategy that increases something that babies may not be getting enough of.”

He said the study was of premature babies and there was no evidence to suggest women of full-term babies might benefit from taking the supplements.

The study, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, said uptake of DHA into developing brains was greatest in the last three months of pregnancy, and infants born prematurely instead had to rely on human milk or formulas that contained insufficient amounts of the nutrient.

The 614 infants in the study were randomly divided into two groups, with the mothers in one group given daily DHA supplements and the other group inactive soya oil, until the date the babies were due to have been born. Their development scores were taken 18 months later.

Although there was no overall improvement in the average development score in the group whose mothers received DHA, girls alone did do better.

The findings were published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Neonatologist Kei Lui, director of neonatal intensive care at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney, said the findings were promising. “The reduction in developmental delays is very important — a lot of educational resources go into helping these children, so if you have fewer of those babies it makes a quite substantial difference,” Professor Lui said.

Perveen Hassim-Borthwick, of the Sunshine Coast, gave birth to her daughter Eden 12 weeks early at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital last month. The baby weighed just 1.1kg.

“It has been a worry, because they tend to have a lot of development issues,” she said.

“Anything that would assist in that would be a comfort — I would have been very willing to try something like (DHA supplements), if I was told it would help with Eden’s development.”