Published in the Asbury Park Press
By JEAN MIKLE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
DOVER TOWNSHIP -- Researchers attempting to sample attic dust and air throughout the township are having difficulty gaining access to homes in several neighborhoods, the chairwoman of the Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster said yesterday.
Linda L. Gillick said researchers from Rutgers University's Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute have notified her that they have had difficulty getting into homes in several neighborhoods.
"All they need is 25 (more homes) to finish the study," Gillick said yesterday. "Unless they get them they can't go ahead with the analysis, and if they don't get them, all the money and time has been wasted because they can't just do a part of the township."
Researchers from the institute initially selected 300 homes from all parts of Dover to include in their study that seeks possible connections between airborne pollutants and the area's elevated level of some childhood cancers.
In a letter to Gillick, Natalie Freeman, of the institute's Exposure Measurement and Assessment Division, said a typical visit takes less than 30 minutes. To be included in the survey, homes must have been built before 1995, and have had no major attic or roof renovations within the last five years.
"This is a very important and integral part of the investigation," Gillick said. "They (researchers) are just going into their attics. It's not an invasion of privacy or anything."
In her letter, Freeman said scientists have sent letters, knocked on doors and made telephone calls to homes in several neighborhoods, but have had no success gaining access to the houses.
"We understand that people are busy, but these samples are important for characterizing the distribution of historical air pollutants throughout Dover township," Freeman wrote.
This fall, scientists will be available to take dust samples on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, Freeman said.
"If folks are willing to participate, we can rapidly finish the sample collection," she wrote.
Participation is needed from the following neighborhoods:
· The Holiday City area, especially Hovsons Boulevard, Mount Matterhorn Lane and Mount Carmel Boulevard.
· The area near the Toms River, between Riverside Drive and Elizabeth Avenue.
· An area on the east side of town, near Capstan and Monitor drives.
· In the Silverton section, near Maine Street and Alabama Avenue.
· The neighborhood near Yellowbank and Indian Hill roads.
· The area near Eugene Drive, Shore Boulevard and Wake Forest Drive.
· The area near Kilkormic Street, Kilrush Court and Kells Court.
· The area near Brandywine Drive.
Anyone interested in participating in the survey should contact Marta Jimenez of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, (732) 235-4599, or Freeman, (732) 445-0151.
Source: Asbury Park Press
Published: September 10, 1999
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