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Exposure to radioactive contaminants that polluted the creek could raise the risks of bone cancer, lung cancer and leukemia. There is also a smaller risk of developing skin and breast cancers, according to the report released Monday by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Anyone who has lived near the creek since 2000 is thought to have lower levels of radiation exposure but still have a potentially higher risk of bone or lung cancer, the report states.

“They are acknowledging our exposure, and that’s a big deal,” said Kim Visintine, a native of Florissant and one of the leaders of the volunteer group Coldwater Creek — Just the Facts.

The group has tracked 6,000 former and current residents of the area who have cancer diagnoses, Visintine said. The number includes more than 60 cases of rare appendix cancers, which the health agency did not link to exposure to the creek. Investigators also found no links to other types of cancers, miscarriages or fertility issues as residents have suspected.

Coldwater Creek was contaminated decades ago by nuclear waste from the production of weapons during World War II. The waste was stored at sites near the airport, adjacent to the creek that flows from St. Ann to the Missouri River.

In 1989, the state’s first health study of the area surrounding the airport waste sites showed eight cases of cancer in residents of Nyflot Avenue that could be linked to radiation exposure. Subsequent studies did not find conclusive evidence of a public health threat.

Missouri health officials asked for federal assistance after a state report in 2014 showed high rates of leukemia, breast, colon and other cancers in the areas surrounding the creek. In 2016, the toxic substances agency, which is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, launched a study into a potential link between the creek’s contamination and cancer cases in current and former residents of the area.

Suspected cancer clusters are notoriously difficult for scientists to investigate because of the complexity of the disease and the vast scope of such a project. The exact level of a person’s historical exposure to contaminated soil and water is nearly impossible to pinpoint.

Federal investigators estimated the exposure levels from the 1960s through the 1990s based on historical data from soil testing. They assumed an average exposure from birth to 33 years and used mathematical formulas to estimate how much soil or water a child and adult playing and living near the creek would breathe in or swallow.

While any exposure to radiation is considered harmful, doses from environmental exposures such as Coldwater Creek are considered to be far lower than those received by people working in the nuclear industry, patients receiving medical radiation or Japanese survivors of atomic bombs.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working for 20 years to clean up the creek, which is known to flood during severe storms. Last year, the Corps removed soil contaminated with thorium from six properties in Hazelwood near the creek, including four houses and an apartment complex. Officials said at the time that the contaminated soil was buried at least 6 to 12 inches below ground and didn’t pose a risk to residents’ health.

The creek’s contamination has gotten increased attention in recent years as residents have also urged a cleanup of West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, where some of the radioactive waste was dumped in 1973.

In the last six years, more than 140 current and former North County residents have filed federal lawsuits claiming that exposure to the nuclear waste in the creek or the landfill caused illnesses and deaths.

The health agency recommends that anyone who may have been exposed to contaminants from the creek’s water or soil discuss the situation with their doctors. Additional cancer screenings are not recommended, as “the number of cases that might actually occur is small, and there is no way to tell if any particular cancer found was caused by this exposure or some other factor.”

Visintine said the group’s next goal is federal legislation to recognize the residents of north St. Louis County through the that allows for compensation claims for uranium workers and people living downwind from nuclear test sites in western states.

“We are definitely victims of friendly fire,” she said.