For the past six months, Ive spent hundreds of hours scouring the internet and speaking to people about 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. 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. Pollution gets cleaned up or dissipates into the air. Never did I think when I started this post I would hit this number! To summarize, primary brain tumors of this type have an incidence rate of between 10-30 out of 1,000,000 individuals. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. 2021 DEADLIEST YEAR IN US HISTORY DUE TO COVID-19, DRUG OVERDOSES. All rights reserved. At the time I was seeking treatment, my oncologist/neurosurgeon was astounded that someone my age (I was 27) had a tumor so large. 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. In the '90s, the high school had another scare, this time on a much smaller scale that was ultimately ruled out as a possible concern. Scientists and health activists say the governments current response to disease clusters ranges from piecemeal to nonexistent.. Alumni links 65 rare brain tumor cases to NJ high school, investigation launched. The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 producer, writer, and host Joe Votruba. Facebook Colonia High School. Is cancer spreading at a New Jersey high school? Dr. Marc Siegel discusses brain tumors that emerged among former Colonia High School students on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'. Jason Wisinski, who lost his wife and sister-in-law, both Colonia High alumnae, to . By Ed Browne On 4/25/22 at 11:00 AM EDT. 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. In Woodbridge and elsewhere, unresolved concerns regardless of whether more can be done, scientifically can seed deep distrust and suspicion in suspected cluster communities. But where did the exposure come from? It was Lupiano, who is an environmental scientist and industrial engineer, who started connecting the dots. ", The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also said in a statement that it has "received information about the community's concerns related to Colonia High School and "will communicate with both the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Department of Health as they investigate the matter.". In the meantime, Komorek has taken her own two daughters out of Colonia High School, but the mayor cautions against calling it a cancer cluster. 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. His sister Angela Decillis graduated . Al Lupiano, a 1989 Colonia High School graduate, has developed a list of nearly 120 people who were students, teachers or staff members at the school who have developed brain tumors.Lupiano's sister, a Colonia High School grad, died with a malignant brain tumor in February and both he and his wife, who also is a Colonia High School grad, developed brain tumors. 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. Based on our information regarding the rock, and the surveys conducted of our staff, we are confident that it is safe for the children to return to school. "So if that's the case, that could explain why we have pockets of these rare cancers all over Woodbridge Township.". All of them graduated from Colonia High School, and they all have brain tumors, ABC7 reported. 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. "I started doing some research and the three became five, the five became seven, the seven became 15," Lupiano said. Graphic Video Captures Death of 14-Year-Old Boy on Orlando Free Fall Amusement Ride. 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 . https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/opinion/cancer-cluster-colonia-woodbridge.html. V Trng Ton High School. 2023 www.mycentraljersey.com. While the death rate from cancer is dropping, thanks to improving treatments and early detection, the total number of cancer cases in the United States is expected to rise by 50 percent compared with 2015 cases, in large part because of aging populations. And thats not the case. My wife was awesome, and I think about her every day I talk to her all the time, Wisinski said. Officials also reviewed local data on naturally occurring radioactive deposits and followed up on reports of a radioactive rock discovered in a science classroom in 1997. "[W]e have really solid data on primary brain tumors because of what we learned after World War Two, what we learned after Chernobyl," Lupiano explained. V Th Su High School. 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. An alumnus of Colonia High School in Woodbridege, N.J. is investigating his former high school, claiming he has counted 115 people who attended or worked there to have had a rare brain tumor . 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. And, YESI most definitely DO! ou can send me a private message using FB Messenger or call/text me at (732)718-4753. Brian Thompson reports. ", "They tend to leave stuff behind, and that stuff tends to migrate from one location to another. 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. "One hundred out of 15,000 have brain cancer -- sure sounds like something we should be concerned about," Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac has said. Others told NJ.com they want a remote learning option until the investigation is complete. McCormac said the investigation found "no cause and effect relationship between those illnesses and the building or grounds at Colonia High School." Kate McGreevy, an epidemiologist from the New Jersey Department of . My sister and siblings attended Lynn Crest, Colonia Middle, and Colonia High School. They can find reasons to doubt. Tech & Science Science Health and Medicine Brain Cancer. Above, Jason Wisinski, with his daughter, Haylee, lost his wife and sister-in-law, both Colonia High alumnae, to primary brain tumors. . Despite the number of cases, officials first have to determine if scientific evidence indeed indicates a connection between the school grounds and the brain tumors. Several people raised questions to me about the state health departments analysis. WOODBRIDGE TWP., New Jersey -- Al Lupiano graduated from Colonia High School in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey in 1989. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. According to Fox News, getting scrutiny in the controversy is the now-closed Middlesex Sampling Plant, which is a half hour away from Colonia. But this isn't the first time the high school has had questions about the radiation levels in the area. or redistributed. People struggle to recall their past daily lives which seat they sat in during high school chemistry or where their drinking water came from five years ago. Al Lupiano, speaking to CBS2, said the rare brain tumors were discovered in people who attended Colonia High School. That means we have an incident rate of 15 cases out of 5,000 people. A cluster of brain tumors in people associated with a single New Jersey high school, Colonia High School, is causing concern. The study doesnt close anything. r indicating there were no radiological hazards at Colonia High School, Some in Colonia not satisfied after no radiological hazards found at school, developed a list of more than 120 people who were students, teachers or staff members at the school from the 1970s to 1990s who have apparently developed brain tumors, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. 3/29 UPATE: The list has continued to grow, and now stands at 65 individuals. This is 18 hours a day. His wife Michelle graduated in 1991. Thats 100 people with their life forever changed. However, the agency accepts a greater responsibility for helping communities cope with this uncertainty and the lack of resolution that often characterizes these investigations. Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Al Lupiano, a Colonia High School . State your name, what you were diagnosed with, when, and what year you graduated CHS or worked there. In 1997, the contaminated process building was demolished, and the steel stockpiled for recycling. Casey returns to the Senate after cancer surgery 11 hours ago . 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. "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. Here are the best chocolates in New Jersey. In 1999, when he was just 27, Lupiano was diagnosed with a rare, benign brain tumor for someone his age called Acoustic Neuroma (AN). Powered by. Al Lupiano was diagnosed with a "very rare" and abnormally large brain tumor in 1999 when he was 27 called Acoustic Neuroma. The AP participation rate at Colonia High School is 37%. In a mysterious story, a man from New Jersey named Al Lupiano found out that 100 people with uncommon cancers were linked to Woodbridge Township School District, Colonia 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.. Font Size: Ninety-four former staff members and students from Colonia High School in Woodbridge, New Jersey, have developed an "extremely" rare form of malignant brain tumor, leading local officials to approve an emergency probe of the school Tuesday. Of the 120 or so known carcinogens, some are inescapable, like sunshine, engine exhaust, air pollution or the asbestos still embedded in millions of older buildings. Something is wrong here, he said. Tonight I will be sitting down with The Garden State Podcast, which airs on various podcast services and Tik Tok. She sent them to independent laboratories and says the results were alarming. While I am thrilled to have the information coming in again, its also very troubling to see the numbers continue to grow. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection building. But Mr. Lupiano said he ultimately hopes one way or another to be assured that all is as it should be. In 1999, the Corps prepared an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA) to address the Vicinity Property (VP) pile remaining at the site. Lupianos Facebook post initially read, Calling all Colonia High School (CHS) alumniI am in urgent need of your help!. So that's why I focused on cancerous or malignant and benign because they're triggered by the same thing, and we have really solid statistics to say all. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. 3/31 UPDATE: Thanks to all of you, the post has gone viral. When childrens health and lives are at stake, we have a right to demand your full attention and transparency.". Colonia Park Mall in court over $200,000 in bills Send Joe Votruba an email. And when do you need to check your own biases and take patients concerns more seriously? How was this possible? Would love your thoughts, please comment. Why Al Lupiano raised alarm over Colonia HS cancer links Is it a cancer cluster or a coincidence? April 15, 2022 1:00 PM ET. "We absolutely have concerns, the Democrat told NJ.com. My main focus is still on determining if ionizing radiation is the cause of these tumor and other rare cancers. This is alarming if true! It was an entry point for African uranium ores known as pitchblende that were imported for use in the nations early atomic energy program, were assayed at the Middlesex Sampling Plant and then shipped to other sites for processing, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New York Division. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. But some still want more. After meeting with Komorek, Massimino sent a notice to parents Monday about her results from additional environmental testing at the school. 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. I discovered 15 people from our circle of friends and their family members and friends had been diagnosed with brain tumors! By Sean Adams, WCBS Newsradio 880. America today woke up to the news that brain cancer has been detected in more than 100 former students at a New Jersey . It says. It doesnt just go away because the test says all clear.. Last summer, Lupiano's wife and now-deceased sister were diagnosed with rare malignant brain tumors on the same day. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. DeCillis passed away at the age of 44 from a rare form of brain cancer. Lupiano's sister, also a graduate of the high school, died recently from brain cancer. Find Us . The analysis can back with PCBs above federal and state standards as well as pesticides that were banned in 1988," she said. Youre looking for footprints in the sand long after the tide has come and gone, said Dr. Clapp. And the soil was right below where the caulking is.". Their neurologist, who has been recognized as a global leader in neurosurgery by the World Federation of Neurological Societies, has treated and been involved with tens of thousands of brain tumors in his career. Like 6 Comments |. In 1980s, 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. Lupiano, who is also an environmental scientist, and his wife Michelle-- both graduates of the high school -- were diagnosed with benign brain tumors 20 years apart. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. All three of them have since come down with rare brain disorders. According to ABC7, one of the victims was a woman named Janice Wisinski, who died 10 years ago from an inoperable brain tumor while pregnant. According to the Associated Press, a simple classroomdemonstrationof a Geiger counter resulted in panic when the radiation detectorshowed troubling results when a loud clamor was heard over a rock. A cluster of brain tumors and cancer in people associated with a single New Jersey high school is causing concern. HAZLE TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) James Hudock, a former chemistry teacher who was promoted to vice principal at the Hazleton Area High School . Fox News correspondent Bryan Llenas has the latest as 100+ have been diagnosed with rare brain tumors from Colonia High School in Woodbridge, New Jersey. 1:07. Parents are trying to get authorities to investigate these clusters and to discern what caused the disease patterns. Could that be the link? Rohit Ranjan. NEW JERSEY - A New Jersey man has uncovered a medical mystery apparently linking more than 100 people . Since cancer can take such a long time to manifest, evidence of what caused it has ample time to disappear. The 110 people that Lupiano has counted on his list of former Colonia High School graduates have been diagnosed with cancerous or noncancerous primary brain tumors, meaning they originated in the brain. I'm doing this not only for my wife, my sister my nieces are currently in the school but this deserves further understanding. 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. So when officials declared earlier this year that ground penetrating radar tests on the grounds of Colonia High School concluded there was no dangerous or carcinogenic radiation there, she took matters into her own hands. We did exactly what they wanted.. 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. WASHINGTON (AP) Federal officials sued a Louisiana chemical maker on Tuesday, alleging that it presented an unacceptable cancer risk to the nearby . Colonia High School . The sizes of neighborhood clusters are often too small to yield statistically significant results. Nearly 100 Former Students and Staff From Colonia High School Develop Brain Tumors Komorek said the superintendent thanked her for her research and said a consultant would have to review her findings. After the CBS Channel 2 News airing, the summarized radio broadcast on CBS 880, and the NJ 101.5 coverage, my phone has not stopped ringing. Between August 1999 and November 1999, the Corps disposed of 35,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil contained within the VP pile. 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. 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. Lupiano promised his dying sister to dig for the root of the brain cancers apparently linked to the high school. Environmental scientist Al Lupiano tells NBC4 New . Why Al Lupiano raised alarm over Colonia HS cancer links, Is it a cancer cluster or a coincidence? The Middlesex Sampling Plant is located at 239 Mountain Avenue in Middlesex, New Jersey. "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. Stuff behind, and that stuff tends to migrate from one location to another Acoustic Neuroma of between out... Graphic Video Captures Death of 14-Year-Old Boy on Orlando Free Fall Amusement Ride Jersey 101.5 producer,,! Tumor cluster was disturbing but stressed it was too soon to make definitive conclusions about the cause say the current. 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