More than 120 people who attended Colonia High School in New Jersey have been diagnosed with brain tumors. An environmental assessment began last month to test the school grounds, which turned up no findings of radiological contaminants, according to NJ.com, a New Jersey news site.
A look back: Al Lupiano was diagnosed with acoustic neuroma, a rare brain tumor, in 1999. Twenty years later, his wife was diagnosed with the same type of tumor, which the doctor stated was just as likely as both of them being struck by lightning, per the Deseret News.
- Lupiano sister, Angela DeCillis, was also diagnosed with a tumor and died in February.
- Lupiano took to social media with his story. Over time, he found 120 other people with connections to Colonia High School who have reported cases of tumors.
- These cases sparked national attention, and the question arose whether the school was linked to a potential cancer cluster. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ran a series of tests on the school grounds to see if any radioactive material could be located, the Deseret News reported.
- Previous Deseret News reporting states that Lupiano believed a testing site about 30 minutes from Colonia High School could have been responsible for radiation. The plant was used to test different ores during the United State’s early atomic energy era.
Test results: Once the test was concluded, it was found that there was no trace of radiological contaminants that would lead to brain tumors or other central nervous system disorders, according to NJ.com.
- “We do not believe that there is cause for any further testing, and that the children of this school, the faculty of this school and the parents of these children can have confidence that this is a safe place,” said New Jersey EPA Commissioner Shawn LaTourette in a press conference in Middlesex County, New Jersey, on Thursday.
- John McCormac, mayor of Woodbridge, New Jersey, stated that there was “no cause and effect relationship” between the school and the cases of cancer, according to Fox News. He continued to state that there is no reason to further investigate the school, and that no more tests and investigations will be done on the property.
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