", Colonia High School entrance. It may be that once someone is diagnosed with cancer, they are more likely to take note of other cancer diagnoses or more likely to have conversations about cancer and realize their connections to other cancer patients, Platz said. Environmental scientist Al Lupiano is. In 1999 when Lupiano was 27, he too was diagnosed with a large acoustic neuroma on the left side of his brain. Two weeks from now, if we dont hear anything from the federal agencies, theres going to be a lot of yelling and screaming, and the parents are going to run out of patience, he said. 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. Even though the cluster cases ended almost two decades ago, Lupiano appears as determined as ever to uncover the cause -- and he understands that parents who send their kids to school there now may have some concerns despite what officials tell them. Lupiano began researching to see if other Woodbridge friends and family members had been diagnosed with brain tumors. Know What It Is, Nagaland Minister Pokes Fun At G20 Flower Pots Theft Accused, This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics. An investigation has . In August 2021, DeCillis received her diagnosis of Grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive, rare, and deadly form of brain cancer. I will uncover the truth.. Its not something in soil. The issue became national headline in the United States after CBS News aired a story on it. More than 100 graduates of a New Jersey high school have been diagnosed with brain tumors over the past 30 years, prompting concern that there might be a connection between the school and the tumor cases. Outdoors, radon disperses rapidly and, generally, is not a health issue. Its not contaminated water. Its not air. Over 100 former students and staff from a New Jersey high school have been diagnosed with brain tumors. "We're all concerned, and we all want to get to the bottom of this. DeCillis passed away at the age of 44 from a rare form of brain cancer. An investigation into a possible brain cancer cluster found no evidence a New Jersey school was the cause of tumors diagnosed in former students, officials declared Thursday. ", NEWS: Piscataway man convicted of exploiting daughters college peers after moving into dorm. While not technically cancer, these brain tumors can grow and become life-threatening if left untreated. By that time, we hope the federal agencies are going to take over. Thats 100 people with their life forever changed. The number of reported victims has been growing since Al Lupiano, a former student in the 1980s and a cancer victim himself, appealed for names in a Facebook post on March 7. If we dont find anything, we have to start looking at other potential candidates, whether its chemicals or something in the soil or air. WOODBRIDGE, NJ Nearly 2,000 people have signed a petition demanding a more robust investigation from the state of New Jersey and the federal government regarding a possible, unconfirmed cancer. Immediate action from our State and Federal agencies is warranted," Lupiano said. WOODBRIDGE TWP., New Jersey -- Al Lupiano graduated from Colonia High School in Woodbridge Township, . The program will take real-time measurements of radiation inside and outside the building, the town said. Any finding that an outbreak of cancer in a specific location warrants the label cluster would rely on the elimination of possible causes that include the age of patients, the type of cancer, and how the number of cases compares with the incidence of the disease in the general population, they said. 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. Donavyn was a Fulbright Fellow to Denmark where she studiedmolecular nutrition and food policy. The analysis was conducted after dozens of former high school students and staff over decades were diagnosed with cancers. A single New Jersey man has uncovered a medical mystery apparently linking 100 people diagnosed with rare cancers or tumors to a Woodbridge high school. "We thank Mayor McCormac [sic] and the local residents for raising these concerns and we ask for patience as we pursue the science to try to identify answers," the statement reads. 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. NEW JERSEY - A New Jersey man has uncovered a medical mystery apparently linking more than 100. The school was built back in 1967 on acres of empty land, with McCormac telling the news network he is stumped as to what could be causing the cancers. "Dozens of people have asked me to help them find a way to have a brain scan since they have been having signs and symptoms something may be wrong, but due to lack of insurance or not being able to afford the deductible, have not been able to have an MRI scan," Lupiano wrote in a Facebook post. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, We do not believe that there is cause for any further testing, he said. "As previously stated, there is basically one medically proven cause of rare brain tumors like ours radiation," he wrote. This is how New Jersey saw the world from 1940-to 1980. Environmental scientist Al Lupiano tells NBC4 New . Earlier this year, Al Lupiano, an environmental scientist and Colonia High School graduate, discovered more than 115 people who spent time at the school had a rare brain tumor. Print |. This is only one of many, many tests that can be performed. If it's an ongoing issue, we may have to go through this all over again in 10 to 20 years. "Two hours later, we received information that my wife also had a primary brain tumor," Lupiano said. "Also, records later revealed that in 1948, some radioactively contaminated materials had been trucked from the plant to the Middlesex Municipal Landfill (MML), one-half mile away. "The rates are actually consistent in New Jersey with the United States," McGreevy said. Lupiano is wondering whether some of that soil ended up on the school grounds. The states Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette backed up the mayors declaration the school was safe. 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. We are looking at possible things that we can do between the town and school, and they said they will look at anything we come up with, McCormac said. "That's probably been the biggest fear of all," Lupiano said. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Legal Statement. "We got the state and federal agencies involved, and we're starting some testing of the grounds and the air this weekend," McCormac said. We're just doing it," said Mayor John E. McCormac. One former student at Colonia High School who developed a 'rare' brain tumor over 20 years ago and survived having cancer is looking to uncover the cause. Make no mistake when the department believes that people are at risk we act and immediately so, he told media members. The question is why? Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. His sister had recently died of cancer. Since the initial post, Lupiano has published a list of 115 people who attended or worked at Colonia and were diagnosed with a primary brain tumor, according to news reports. "We can get in there today and take air, water and soil samples and have results back the same day," Lupiano said. Donavyn Coffey is a Kentucky-based health and environment journalist reporting on healthcare, food systems and anything you can CRISPR. He accused the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the federal Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry of being unresponsive to his calls for a formal probe. 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. According to agency estimates, about 21,000 people die each year from radon-related lung cancer. 'It can't be a coincidence': Colonia High School community probes mysterious cancer cases, Piscataway man convicted of exploiting daughters college peers after moving into dorm, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. After his sister passed away, Lupiano wrote a lengthy Facebook post as well as an article in a local newspaper in March, asking for people in the area for help in reporting cases of brain tumors. Lupiano also suggested a potential link between Colonia High School and a Middlesex, New Jersey, sampling plant in his interview with NJ Spotlight. That's what makes the numbers staggering," says Lupiano. (Exposure to certain types of radiation can increase the risk of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.) It's due to concerns tied to graduates or staff members with brain tumors. But as the study continues, a number of people in the community are looking for some kind of reassurance. More than 100 people who graduated from Colonia High School have developed brain cancer. All rights reserved. While the exact number of former faculty and staff diagnosed with glioblastoma is not precisely known, the cancer is exceedingly rare. Woodbridge Mayor John McCormack told the outlet that his office initiated conversations with the Woodbridge Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Agency for Toxic Substance Disease Registry about opening investigations into potential radiation exposure stemming from the high school's campus. Al Lupiano graduated from the Middlesex County school in 1989. His wife was similarly diagnosed with an abnormally large AN tumor, and his sister was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), which has an incident rate of 30 out of every 1 million people, Lupiano explained in a Facebook post that he has been updating since March 7. A subsequent TikTok video discussing the medical mystery has also racked up more than 2.2 million viral views in just 24 hours. "I talked to him a little bit and learned about what he had been working on," McCormactoldNew Jersey 101.5. WOODBRIDGE A New Jersey man is on amission to find a link between rare braintumors inmore than 60 graduates and former staff at Colonia High School, including his wife and late sister. Like 6 Comments |. His wife. Robert Miller The investigation was jumpstarted after it was discovered more 122 people once connected to. In addition, T&M and Cabrera Services Inc, a radiological and environmental remediation company, will acquire real time radiation measurements from the interior and exterior of the building as part of an intensive survey of all 28 acres of the Colonia High School property. COLONIA, N.J. -- There is a growing push to go back to remote learning at one New Jersey high school, but not because of COVID fears. Dating back decades, newly detailed reports of more than 100 cases of brain tumors among former students and staff at Colonia High School in Woodbridge have raised obvious concerns. He's identifiedat least 65 people, including graduates and former staff who walked the halls of CHS from 1975 to 1995. 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. Find your municipality in this alphabetical list to see how its average property tax bill for 2021 compares to others. McCormack said the town wants local and federal involvement in the investigation. (Google Maps). Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Over 122 people connected to Colonia High School were found to have brain tumors. (Gosselin Funeral Home) In August 2021, DeCillis received her diagnosis of Grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive, rare, and deadly form of brain cancer. Both his wife and sister were assigned the same doctor for treatment. The township and school district have had discussions and meetings with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the state Department of Health, the state Department of Environmental Protection and Rep. Frank Pallones office. He says if there is something going on, he worries about all of the people that would be impacted. Al Lupiano first sent public nearly two months ago about concerns of a cancer cluster related to Colonia High School. According to United StatesEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA), radon is a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. World News Posted by Amit Chaturvedi Updated: April 15, 2022 12:33 pm IST. Al Lupiano graduated from Colonia High School in . State Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichillisaid during the press conference a review of the cancer registry by health officials determined the expected number of primary brain tumors for Colonia students from 1968 to 2021 were 98 to 105 and among staff for that same timeframe were 13 to 14. Researchers need to ask themselves, for example, whether an apparent cluster could reflect the fact that many cancer victims are older, or whether their tumors may have been caused by radiation that was used to cure some other illness, he said. (Google Maps). This is definitely not normal.. The Anti-Defamation League said the phrase at the center of the question was popularized as a trolling campaign by members of 4chan a notorious anonymous message board and was adopted by . This is terrific news for the current students of Colonia High School and their parents, who worried about their safety, along with current staff members, and is also great news for all former students who attended and staff who worked at Colonia High School.. "I'm not particularly concerned because it hasn't happened in quite some time. More: 'It can't be a coincidence': Colonia High School community probes mysterious cancer cases. We have no records 55 years ago.". Now, he's gone public with the suggestion that Colonia could be one such site. By April 11, he had heard from more than 100 former Colonia High School attendees who had been diagnosed with rare tumors and cancers. Al Lupiano is among the 94 former staff and students from Colonia High School in the Woodbridge Township School District who have been stricken by the devastating diagnoses in recent years. The investigation will consider very granular data on graduates, like their occupations, family history and other activities that could affect their exposures. That's when Lupiano started looking into the connection. He has continued to update followers on social media and on Thursday, said the list stood at 115 people who had either malignant or benign tumors. Heres how it works. The plant received uranium, thorium and beryllium ores between the 1940s and 1967, which is the same year Colonia High School was built. 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 . 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," Lupiano said. T&M Associates of Middletown and its team of environmentalists are scheduled to begin collecting data at the high school this weekend by placing radon canisters throughout the building to collect air samples, according to township officials. READ MORE: Former Woodbridge, N.J. resident says 65 people who either attended or worked at Colonia High School have had rare brain tumors. But Lupiano has so far came across 102 people who passed through the school between 1975 and 2000 have all suffered from the same type of brain cancer. His condition was rare, but he was successfully treated. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 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. 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 cases. Dozens of former teachers and students have . Colonia graduate Al Lupiano, an environmental scientist, was the first to sound the alarm about the potential cluster. More than 100 former Colonia High School students and staff have been diagnosed with brain cancer over a 30-year period. The environmental assessment study at Colonia High School was recently completed, in response to allegations that suggested the school had radiological hazards that contributed to diagnoses. LOS ANGELES (AP) More than a week after Tom Sizemore suffered a brain aneurysm, a representative says the actor's family is "now deciding end of life matters." 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