Marion Renault is a health and science journalist. When the state health department calculated the number of brain and other nervous system tumors that would be expected among the cohort of students and staff from 1968 to 2021, it concluded it could be up to 120 individuals just slightly under Mr. Lupianos count of about 125 (though he believes his tally is an undercount). On April 10, Mr. Lupianos list of former students and staff members with primary brain tumors hit 100 names. Some depend on the type of exposure, others unleash carcinogenesis only in people with the right genetic predisposition. Why hasnt anyone confirmed Mr. Lupianos list, in order to have an official tally to compare with the official estimate? EPA looking into cancer cluster tied to NJ high school. After 2nd grade, my wife attended parochial school until high school, where she attended CHS. WASHINGTON (AP) Federal officials sued a Louisiana chemical maker on Tuesday, alleging that it presented an unacceptable cancer risk to the nearby . In 1998 the Corps of Engineers recycled and disposed of the stockpiled steel. By the time you see a tumor in a mammogram, it may be that that tumor has been growing for six years, said Rachel Morello-Frosch, a professor of public health at the University of California, Berkeley. "Seven weeks we've been waiting for them to take a drive from Edison [New Jersey] to Colonia, New Jersey. After Al Lupiano, his wife and his sister developed brain tumors, he reached out to former classmates at their New Jersey high school to see if they had similar problems. In a conversation with NJSpotlight, Al Lupiano said that asecret World War II lab in Middlesex Borough, called the Middlesex Sampling Plant, is said to have been used during the Manhattan Project,a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. But where did the exposure come from? About one in three people will develop cancer over a lifetime, and one in five will die from it. Lupiano was diagnosed with a rare and abnormally large brain tumour Acoustic Neuroma (AN) in 1999 when he was just 27 years old. But she hopes the district will do more research. Find Us . So, if not the neighborhood, what was the link? Whatever the city decides to do, Komorek said she hopes it goes beyond the tests they already performed. The agencies acknowledged their concerns regarding the potential cancer cluster, but are not conducting any testing aside from radiation and radon that the Township undertook, even though the school remains open. Ive done the leg work for them and gathered the data for the last 6 months. While I have spent countless hours gathering data, I simply havent had enough time to get others involved. Very often the first time public health officials learn about a potential community health threat, said Dr. Morello-Frosch, is through community members themselves.. After Angela died in February, at the age of 44, Mr. Lupiano says, he started his outreach in earnest, fueled by a promise to his sister to seek an explanation. When childrens health and lives are at stake, we have a right to demand your full attention and transparency.". You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! The Environmental Protection Agency and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection are now leading the investigation into the high instances of brain tumor diagnoses among Colonia High School students and staff. ", The agencies continued: "The Department of Health will work with the federal Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to provide an assessment of the potential health effects. Photo credit Google Street View. Its very hard to pinpoint what it is that initiated that process.. I had told my sister from the very beginning that there was too much of a coincidence that me, my wife and her all have the same tumor, said Lupiano to ABC 7. If there are any potential environmental exposure pathways identified and a need for further environmental sampling, the state Health Department will work cooperatively with ATSDR to conduct a public health assessment and evaluate the potential for health effects. He was born in . All of them graduated from Colonia High School, and they all have brain tumors, ABC7 reported. "Im not sure what they will propose, but I hope this is going to include comprehensive soil, ground, water (testing)," she said. So it's not unheard of. The Middlesex Sampling Plant is located at 239 Mountain Avenue in Middlesex, New Jersey. Colonia High School Brain Tumors: New Jersey Cancer Cluster Causes Concern, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Instead, an amalgam of carcinogens, genetic predispositions, social factors, lifestyle choices, natural aging and the random chance of spontaneous mutation sets it off, bit by bit, year by year, even decade by decade. If you would like to help, please contact the news and media agencies as well as your local, County, and State officials and get them involved. At an educational board meeting in June, Mrs. Komorek laid out the possible leads she and others would like to see explored, like whether the schools 1960s-era building materials contain mercury or formaldehyde. Edyta Komorek, an environmental scientist and mother of a Colonia High School rising junior and freshman, was not pacified by the results. Dozens of former teachers and students have . Something is wrong here, he said. Al Lupiano, a Colonia High School graduate is on a mission to answer that question after discovering more than 80 fellow graduates from the Woodbridge Township school developed the same rare brain tumor and graduated between the years 1975 to 1995 . "I have full faith they will get to the bottom of this and they will figure out what is going on," she said at the time. This now makes three of us in one family with primary brain tumors all on the left side. Taking the next steps to begin the investigation. Casey returns to the Senate after cancer surgery 11 hours ago . Like 6 Comments |. In 1999, when he was just 27, Lupiano was diagnosed with a rare, benign brain tumor for someone his age called Acoustic Neuroma (AN). Al Lupiano, a Colonia High School graduate is on a mission to answer that question after discovering more than 80 fellow graduates from the Woodbridge Township school developed the same rare brain tumor and graduated between the years 1975 to 1995. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a true cancer cluster must be a greater-than-expected number of cancer cases of the same type of cancer or those proven to have the same cause, within a specific population over a set time. We all of us attended Colonia High School. The television station reported that testing is ongoing. If I trusted those numbers, I would be relieved, and I would be happy, she said. The updates also move to de-emphasize statistical significance as the main criterion for investigating suspected cancer clusters in order to make more room for other criteria, such as mortality and electronic health record data, neighborhood patterns of cancer and even community-created lists of individuals with cancer diagnoses. Komorek, who was hesitant about having her children, a junior and a freshman, at the high school, transferred them to another district school this week. 3/29 UPATE: The list has continued to grow, and now stands at 65 individuals. All rights reserved, concluded there was no dangerous or carcinogenic radiation there, 107 Cases of Brain Tumors Led to Investigation at NJ High School: Mayor Announces Results, Study of NJ HS at Center of Cancer Cluster Mystery Shows No Radioactivity: Mayor, Grad Inks Deal to Bring Free Brain Scans to NJ Community in Cancer Cluster Mystery, 108 people from over a period of three decades ending in the early 2000s, no traces of radioactivity found in the school, Next Winter Storm May Bring Even More Snow to NYC Area This Week: What to Know. In addition to leaning less heavily on statistical significance, the federal agencys new updates also call for an evolution in the interpersonal aspects of a cluster investigation. "One hundred out of 15,000 have brain cancer -- sure sounds like something we should be concerned about," Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac has said. I have a really bad feeling we're going to find contamination beyond the high school. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. As of right now (I need a breakhave to put this down for the night), the list has swelled to 80 cases! I pray we find answers(as of 18:00 4/11, the list stands at 102 individuals), 4/5 UPDATE: There has been quite a lot of news coverage nowKatie Tur of MSNBC, NJ Spotlight, Tap Into, Infolad, etc. Theres something there, in Colonia, Mr. Wisinski said. "That was a red flag," said Komorek who also collected a caulk sample from outside the school and soil samples, both of which also came back for PCBs. WOODBRIDGE - An extensive field investigation that included assessing Colonia High School classrooms, building materials and the 28-acre East Street campus found no radiological hazards that warrant further investigation, an environmental assessment determined. WOODBRIDGE - Results are expected in a few weeks from recent soil and air testing at Colonia High School, following last month's finding of toxic chemicals linked to cancer and pesticides . They weren't taken by a licensed remediation specialist, so I assume our consultants are going to come up with a plan to do some testing, but it will be official by state and federal testing," the mayor said. "So if that's the case, that could explain why we have pockets of these rare cancers all over Woodbridge Township.". https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/opinion/cancer-cluster-colonia-woodbridge.html. Edyta Komorek, an environmental scientist and parent with two children enrolled at the school, met on Monday with Superintendent of Schools Joseph Massimino, Colonia High School Principal Kenneth Pace and the president of the Woodbridge Township Education Association to discuss findings of some testing she had done at the school. Mr. Lupianos list of former classmates and staff members at Colonia High School with primary brain tumors hit 100 in April. The Woodbridge town council spent $221,000 to deploy 83 radon testing devices and conduct radiological testing at the school building and encircling 28-acre campus. $9 Million Contract from National Cancer Institute Awarded for NJ State Cancer Registry. The natural world can also pose a threat via volcanic ash or toxin-spewing fungi. I don't get that," he said. Even so, these constraints do not relieve public health departments from their duty to do all they can to address their constituents concerns even if they cant deliver definitive answers and even if they are under strain themselves. Colonia High School . A cluster of brain tumors in people associated with a single New Jersey high school, Colonia High School, is causing concern. At least one epidemiologist I spoke to for this article told me that, just glancing at the numbers, he wasnt surprised that public officials have determined Colonia was not a true cluster. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. In 1999, the Corps prepared an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA) to address the Vicinity Property (VP) pile remaining at the site. Trinity was led by Mike Bednostin who had a game-high 24 points. Ive reached out to both the news and local newspapers, but have not received any interest. Lupiano, however, says Woodbridge Mayor McCormac is the only government official who has reached out to him for information. T+M Associates, an environmental engineering firm, was asked to investigate a link between the school and brain cancer last month. Fox News reported that the plant received uranium, thorium and beryllium ores between the 1940s and 1967, which is the same year Colonia High School was built.. 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