The Failing War to Prevent Cancer

A Brain Cancer Cluster in New Jersey is a Reminder of How Little We Know About Environmental Carcinogens

A medical mystery at a New Jersey high school has alarmed local residents that an undetected environmental toxin might be responsible for 108 diagnoses of brain tumors dating back thirty years. The city of Woodbridge and federal health officials are investigating what might have caused the cluster of often deadly malignancies at Colonia High School. They are scouring everything from the grounds to buildings at Colonia High School searching for traces of radiation, a likely culprit.

If the history of trying to link environmental carcinogens to cancer clusters is any guide, the current probe for answers is unlikely to produce much satisfaction.

A 1998 report by the U.S. Health And Human Services examined whether “radiological and chemical contamination” from the Maywood Area Superfund sites might have caused an increase in cancer cases. That is only 20 miles from the current cancer cluster.

That investigation found no spike in cancer cases except for one: “brain and central nervous system …