Published in the Asbury Park Press
By JEAN MIKLE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
TOMS RIVER -- An update on an epidemiological study of Dover Township children with cancer, along with information on the progress of installing a carbon filtration system on two wells at United Water Toms River's parkway well field, will be given at Monday's meeting of the Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the second floor meeting room of the municipal building. Linda L. Gillick, who chairs the committee, urged people to come to the meeting on time, since questions from the public will be taken at the beginning.
Last month, researchers announced that all family interviews, the major component of the ongoing epidemiological study of children with cancer, have been completed.
Researchers interviewed 40 families of children who were diagnosed with brain cancer, central nervous system cancer or leukemia while living in Dover from 1979 to 1996.
Interviews with 159 control group families have also been completed. The control group consists of families with children who did not develop cancer, and researchers hoped to interview four control group families for each family of a child who did develop the disease.
The epidemiological study seeks to explain why the incidence of certain cancers in Dover is higher than elsewhere. It will compare the lifestyles, personal histories and work experience of families whose children developed cancer with other families whose children did not develop the disease.
Researchers will use the data from the family interviews to look for variables that may be linked to childhood cancer.
Health department officials will be working closely with the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to determine if families whose children developed cancer ingested more polluted water than families whose children did not develop the disease.
At the parkway well field, which is located off Dugan Lane, United Water has undertaken engineering and design studies for installing carbon filtration systems on wells 22 and 29.
The state Department of Environmental Protection has set a June 9 deadline for installing the filtration on the wells. Two other parkway field wells, Nos. 26 and 28, are already treated with carbon filtration and an air stripping system to remove contaminants.
Gillick said an update on toxicity testing of styrene acrylonitrile trimer will also be given Monday. The trimer is a chemical compound related to plastics production that has been found in small amounts in wells 26, 28 and 29.
Source: Asbury Park Press and the Home News Tribune
Published: February 20, 1999
