A medical mystery was single-handedly uncovered by a New Jersey man apparently linking 100 people diagnosed with rare cancers or tumors to a Woodbridge high school.
The link was only spotted when one former student – now an environmental scientist – noticed people he knew from the institution were getting sick.
Al Lupiano began investigating the connection between this rare diagnosis and the New Jersey high school they all attended. Lupiano has since identified at least 110 graduates from Colonia High School that have all been diagnosed with the rare tumor.
Al Lupiano revealed he had a brain tumor 20 years ago before his wife had one and so did his sister who died in February aged just 44. All three attended the same high school in Woodbridge. He vowed on his sister’s deathbed he would uncover the cause of the illness, adding: ‘I will not rest until I have answers’.
The 50-year-old claims the diseases could be traced back to a nearby sampling plant that dealt with uranium for the first atomic bomb under the Manhattan Project.
Lupiano was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor in 1999 when he was 27 years old — realized something may be amiss when his wife and sister, who had both attended the school, were each diagnosed with brain tumors.
In an effort to solve the mystery behind these brain tumors, Lupiano identified 110 Colonia High School graduates who have also been diagnosed with rare brain tumors.
These tumors are rare because they are primary brain tumors, which means they originate in the brain, while secondary brain tumors, which originate in the body and spread to the brain, are more common.
Lupiano also has heard from residents living near the high school who have contacted him reporting a “cluster” of similar cancer cases in the vicinity.
Lupiano said in a statement:
“It’s overwhelming. … I’m doing this not only for my wife, my sister — my nieces are currently in the school — but this deserves further understanding. Further explanation of what occurred at that high school over these decades of people being in the building. I don’t think this is the end of the story. I have a really bad feeling we’re going to find contamination beyond the high school. 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 then comes up with one possible theory that causes all these, the contamination came from a nearby sampling plant that is now closed but previously was a site for imported uranium ores that were “imported for use in the nation’s early atomic energy program,” and were “shipped to other sites for processing,” as reported by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
Lupiano reported:
“[W]e have really solid data on primary brain tumors because of what we learned after World War Two, what we learned after Chernobyl. The medical journals are rich with data supporting ionizing radiation causes brain tumors. 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.”
100 Percent Fedup noted:
Between the 1940s and 1967 – coincidentally the same year Colonia High School was built – the plant received shipments of uranium, thorium, and beryllium ores. And, while the plant reportedly “decontaminated to the standards in effect at the time,” there were “traces of radioactive materials that had been carried offsite over the years by wind and rain to yards of neighboring homes.”
The USACE also reports that in 1948, “some radioactively contaminated materials had been trucked from the plant to the Middlesex Municipal Landfill (MML), one-half mile away.” And, in the 1980s, “the excavated soil was stored at the site in a specially constructed pile, known as the Vicinity Properties (VP) pile.” This soil could have been transported to Colonia High School and used in its construction in 1967.
In a joint statement released by The New Jersey Departments of Health (DOH) and Environmental Protection (DEP) who are currently investigating the apparent cancer cluster, stated:
“Our agencies are aware of the concerns raised by local residents, particularly as they relate to Colonia High School, and are partnering with Mayor McCormac and Woodbridge Township to better understand the issue and determine whether any relevant environmental exposure concerns are present at the site. The Departments stand ready to assist Woodbridge in reviewing any environmental data it collects to determine appropriate next steps.
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. 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.”
Source: 100percentfedup
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