
Is Columbia River “nose” real or imagined illness?
HOOD RIVER, Ore. — They call it “river nose” — an occasional affliction that has been a mystery for at least 20 years.
Some avid windsurfers and kite boarders have complained of symptoms that can include stuffy noses, sinus infections, sneezing attacks, cuts that don’t heal, nausea and fatigue.
This year, the number of reports of symptoms are higher than ever, according to Columbia Riverkeeper.
So the river advocacy group, with the help of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, is investigating.
Potential culprits are many in a deep, wide river that starts at a Canadian glacier and runs 1,200 miles, passing through the Hanford nuclear reservation and picking up along the way agricultural runoff, heaps of allergens, dioxins from 13 pulp and paper mills, heavy metals from mines, and sewer outflows from cities and septic tanks.
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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003833819_rivernose13m.html

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