Of the estimated 1,000 suspected cancer clusters reported to health departments each year, only a small fraction prove to be statistically significant cancer surges. Trinity was led by Mike Bednostin who had a game-high 24 points. "Once again we will work with the school district through our health department and our environmental consultants and make contact with the state Departments of Environmental Protection and Health to help evaluate what we were presented with and decide on a future course of action," said Mayor John E. McCormac. On the same day, his sister, Angela, learned she had a fast-growing malignant tumor, also on the left side of her brain. Phil Murphy told NJ.com the possible brain tumor cluster was disturbing but stressed it was too soon to make definitive conclusions about the cause. Lupiano's quest for information took him to Facebook last month, and that list of people who went to or worked at Colonia High School - and have a primary brain tumor - is now closing in on 100 . 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. said Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac. Schools in North Brunswick and Trenton, as well as in Greenwich, Conn., and Northport, N.Y., were discovered to have been constructed on or near contaminated soils. All three had attended Colonia High School in Woodbridge, in central New Jersey, and soon enough, Mr. Lupiano began asking on Facebook and on a local news site if any other graduates had similar diagnoses. "My thoughts are we should look into it, but it's what you would expect if you texted caulking from a building built in the 1960s. The same day my sister was diagnosed (August 2021), I received the devastating news my wife Michele (nee Zawada) also has a very large (3.0 cm), very rare brain tumor called an Acoustic Neuroma (aka Vestibular Schwannoma) on her left side. This is 18 hours a day. (In one scientific review of 428 cancer cluster investigations over 21 years, for example, just one in eight cases was a confirmed increase in cancer, and only one investigation revealed a definitive source.). More than 100 people from the same high school have been diagnosed with brain cancer and it is feared soil contaminated with uranium used in the first atomic bomb made them ill. (Gosselin Funeral Home) In August 2021, DeCillis received . And when do you need to check your own biases and take patients concerns more seriously? "It is not enough to address parents of operating school with suspected cancer cluster through written statements given to media outlets," the petition said. Al Lupiano, his sister and his wife are among the 115 people from Colonia High School in Woodbridge, New Jersey that he has determined have had a brain tumor. It is his belief my wife and I may be the first documented case of spouses having an AN, both roughly the same size and on the same side of the headaccording to him, the odds are maybe 1 in a BILLION. Earlier this year, officials claimed that penetrating radar tests on the grounds of Colonia High School concluded . An alum of Colonia High School in Woodbridge is raising the alarm over a possible cancer cluster among the school's graduates. 2023 www.mycentraljersey.com. The sizes of neighborhood clusters are often too small to yield statistically significant results. or redistributed. There could be a real problem here, and our residents deserve to know if there are any dangers, Woodbridges mayor, John McCormac, said in April. Among other things, the law calls for periodic updates to federal cluster investigation guidelines work that the C.D.C., compelled by the legislation, began in 2018. On April 15, 2022, Lupiano wrote on Facebook. 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. The Woodbridge School District superintendent at the time then added: Radioactivity is ubiquitous in the environment. "From my perspective when we find this type of contamination on our client's property, we're not allowed to sit still and refuse to act. Every inch of Colonia High School, part of the Woodbridge Township School District, from buildings to fields, is being tested for radiation to determine if there is a link between the school and the number of cancer cases diagnosed amongst former students and staff. Whatever the city decides to do, Komorek said she hopes it goes beyond the tests they already performed. is continuing. Colonia High School (Google Maps) Middlesex County's Colonia High School, located in Woodbridge, has made national headlines in recent weeks after over 100 former students and faculty were found . This helps explain why cluster investigations so often fail to arrive at a satisfying conclusion. And, YESI most definitely DO! "I don't think this is the end of the story. Updated: Feb 28, 2023 / 02:45 PM EST. That could look like presenting the public with clearer timelines of an investigations course of action, creating portals to gather community feedback and encouraging two-way communications from the start., After all, there has been a long history of patients serving as a critical warning system for epidemiology, with concerned residents having alerted public health officials to mercury poisoning diseases, birth defects caused by rubella, and toxic drinking water contaminants. In 1999, the Corps prepared an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA) to address the Vicinity Property (VP) pile remaining at the site. Secondary brain tumors, which originate elsewhere in the body and then spread to the brain, are more common. 3/25 UPDATE: The meetings with County, State, and Federal agencies are going well. A Record of Decision (ROD) for Soils was signed September 2005. After some digging, a man who attended Colonia High School in Woodbridge, New Jersey, discovered more than 100 former students and staff members had been diagnosed with the same sort . And once againI couldnt do this without your help!! Ultimately, if it isnt a radiation source that is causing these illnesses, Lupiano says other tests can be done to pinpoint a cause. The Department of Health responded to the incident saying: We learned that one of the school's science teachers was demonstrating the use of a geiger counter (along with an accompanying sample of a low level radioactive source) as part of a science class lesson earlier that day. All three of them have since come down with rare brain disorders. Lupiano believes theres a link between. 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. For public health officials, resolving this tension is the macro version of bedside manner: How do you reassure a frightened patient that nothings wrong? All of them graduated from Colonia High School, and they all have brain tumors, ABC7 reported. All rights reserved. My main focus is still on determining if ionizing radiation is the cause of these tumor and other rare cancers. Keeping my fingers crossed!! Why Al Lupiano raised alarm over Colonia HS cancer links Is it a cancer cluster or a coincidence? Colonia High School is located in Colonia, New Jersey. Colonia High School in New Jersey has seen more than 100 students and staff diagnosed with cancer over the last 30 years. 100 stories of shock and disbelief with the diagnosis. The situation first came to light after Colonia High School alumnus Al Lupiano identified at least 104 former students and staff who suffered from rare brain tumors and cancer. . Powered by. Schools Radiation Testing Underway At NJ School With Possible Cancer Link They are now doing radon air testing after a 1989 Colonia grad said he found a high number of brain cancers linked to the . Al Lupiano, a graduate of Colonia High School, tells Fox News Digital that since posting his theory about an apparent link between brain tumor diagnoses in 1990s and early 2000s graduates of . According to the television station, the sisters graduated from Colonia High School. 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 . See Al Luciano's entire NJSpotlight interview below. There's lots and lots of people calling me, saying, 'Look, I didn't go to the high school, but I live a mile away, and we call our block cancer alley. 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. 1:07. In April, Colonia High School in Colonia, New Jersey, made national headlines after more than 100 former students and staff reported online that they had been diagnosed with brain tumors, in a . The study doesnt close anything. "[A]t least pick up the phone and say, Hey Al, what do you see? And I would be happy here's my list. "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. He concedes no soil or dust samples were collected when the township conducted its own tests, but adds that Komoreks findings need further validation. Middlesex Sampling Plant to Colonia High School in New Jersey. My three siblings graduated class of 91, 95, and 98. Something Is Wrong Here. More Than 100 Local Residents Had Brain Tumors, but What Was the Cause? Brian Thompson reports. "We and our children deserve more! Parents are trying to get authorities to investigate these clusters and to discern what caused the disease patterns. Both sisters graduated from Colonia High School, just like Al Lupiano in 1989, his wife Michelle in 1991, and his sister, Angela Decillis in 1995. Further explanation of what occurred at that high school over these decades of people being in the building," Lupiano said. "The medical journals are rich with data supporting ionizing radiation causes brain tumors. So, if not the neighborhood, what was the link? Alumni links 65 rare brain tumor cases to NJ high school, investigation launched. Edyta Komorek, an environmental scientist and mother of a Colonia High School rising junior and freshman, was not pacified by the results. Dose, too, is a major factor. We have to accept the results.. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection building. If I trusted those numbers, I would be relieved, and I would be happy, she said. Middlesex County's Colonia High School, located in Woodbridge, has made national headlines in recent weeks after over 100 former students and facultywere found to have been diagnosed with rare brain tumors. Beyond the adoption of genomic testing, which might identify a telltale genetic signature among patients with the same kind of cancer, no technological fix yet promises to address these problems. The New Jersey Departments of Health (DOH) and Environmental Protection (DEP) say they are involved in an investigation into the apparent cancer cluster, though Lupiano says he has not received requests for information from either agency. Advocates for an official investigation into fears of a "cancer cluster" at the Middlesex County high school say there are parallels to the notorious water system contamination in the Ocean County town that was blamed for more than 130 cases of childhood cancer in the 1990s. They can find reasons to doubt. Parents like Dawn Genoni are willing to wait for those results -- at least at the time Genoni spoke to News 4 last month. Colonia High School 180 East Street Colonia, NJ 07067 Phone: 732-499-6500 Fax: 732-574-2575. A part of the campus is named for Pat Barbato - a longtime football coach . Al Lupiano, a Colonia High School graduate is on a mission to answer that question after discovering more than 80 fe. In the 1980[s], the contaminated residential properties were cleaned up, and the excavated soil was stored at the site in a specially constructed pile, known as the Vicinity Properties (VP) pile," the USACE New York Division's website states. PROMISING CANCER VACCINE IN THE WORKS UTILIZING SIMILAR MRNA TECHNOLOGY THAT COMBATS COVID: DUKE RESEARCHERS. His wife was similarly diagnosed with a malignant AN tumor, and his sister was diagnosed with malignant Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), which has an incident rate of 30 out of every 1 million people. Why hasnt anyone confirmed Mr. Lupianos list, in order to have an official tally to compare with the official estimate? Assuming we follow the same statistical analysis as stated previously, over a 20-year period from 1975 1995, I estimate approximately 5,000 individuals have passed thru the hallowed halls of CHS. 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. Its very hard to pinpoint what it is that initiated that process.. It is not unfathomable that it may have happened in Colonia, Mrs. Komorek told the board. Find Us . What happened in my community continually repeats itself throughout this entire country, year in and year out, that survivor, Trevor Schaefer, told lawmakers in 2011. His sister Angela Decillis graduated . 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. Environmental scientist Al Lupiano is among 94 former students and staff from Colonia High School in Woodbridge, New Jersey, who have been diagnosed with rare brain tumors. Al Lupiano, his wife and his sister all had brain tumors. One month later, Mayor McCormac echoed this sentiment to me: Its frustrating that people who hoped that there was no radiation on the site now are upset that theres not, he said. Al Lupiano, a graduate of Colonia High School, tells Fox News Digital that since posting his theory about an apparent link between brain tumor diagnoses in 1990s and early 2000s graduates of Colonia High School including himself, his wife and his sister, who recently died of cancer on Facebook in March, he has gathered the names of at least 110 graduates with rare brain tumors. ", Lupiano eventually arrived at a single linking factor between himself, his wife and his sister: they each attended Colonia High School in Woodbridge in the 1990s. His wife Michelle graduated in 1991. Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. On May 26, Mayor McCormac and state environmental and public health officials held a news conference in the high schools gymnasium to share their final determination: There was no indication of any potential radiological hazards that would warrant further inquiry. Yesthere is. These tumors are even more rare occurring in 10 out of 1,000,000 individuals. Is it a cancer cluster or a coincidence? 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 . In Woodbridge and elsewhere, unresolved concerns regardless of whether more can be done, scientifically can seed deep distrust and suspicion in suspected cluster communities. A former Woodbridge man has identified 84 Colonia High School alumni and former staffers with rare brain tumors and wants health officials to investigate. Colonia High School entrance. Colonia High School is 1 of 3 high schools in . "Most of them during the years of 1972 to 2000," said Matthew Stanmyre with NJ Advance Media, who broke the . A scientist and mother is demanding answers after tests she conducted found cancer-causing toxins and materials were present at the school where more than 100 former students have since been diagnosed with brain tumors. Cancer-Causing Toxins Found in New Tests at NJ School, Mom Says, Raising Concerns. That, the "concerned Colonia High School parents, alumni, and township members" petitioning on behalf of their school community say, isn't acceptable. according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New York Division. Ray Kent Carlile, "Ray Cool Cat Carlile" was born in Wichita, Kansas May 20, 1957 to Margaret and Earl Carlile and passed away at his home in Canon City on February 23, 2023. Facebook While I have spent countless hours gathering data, I simply havent had enough time to get others involved. The answer? While I am thrilled to have the information coming in again, its also very troubling to see the numbers continue to grow. A consultant will be testing the grounds at Colonia High School, New Jersey, amid concerns that the school is linked to a high rate of rare brain cancers. Colonia High School is now the subject of radiation detecting research. Lng Th Vinh High School. According to My Central New Jersey, the township has approved an emergency contract of $221,350 for an engineering firm to conduct radiological assessments at Colonia High School.. I never in my worst nightmare envisioned ever hitting this milestone. Legal Statement. In 2016, Congress passed Trevors Law, named after a survivor of childhood brain cancer linked to a suspected cluster in Idaho deemed too small to study. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. The site received uranium, thorium and beryllium ores from the 1940s until 1967, at which time the facility was decontaminated to the standards in effect at the time. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Radiation tests are being carried out at a New Jersey high school where over 100 former students and staff are reported to have developed brain tumors and cancerand the . I needed more data. medical mystery at a high school following dozens of diagnoses of brain tumors. With confirmed cases now at 61 we have an incidence of 61 out of approximately 10,000 individuals. Here are some tips. "We absolutely have concerns, the Democrat told NJ.com. She stressed more testing needs to be done on the schools East Street property to see if there are other sources of possible contamination, such as fill material, illegal past discharges, or contamination from other sites. The Middlesex Sampling Plant is located at 239 Mountain Avenue in Middlesex, New Jersey. Edyta Komorek is a professional environmental scientist. ( NewsNation) An investigation is underway at a New Jersey high school that could potentially be linked to what's known as a cancer cluster. Updated: Feb 28, 2023 / 11:29 AM EST. 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