Published in the Asbury Park Press
By JEAN MIKLE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
TOMS RIVER -- An update on 1999 cancer statistics will be among the topics discussed at tonight's meeting of the Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster, committeeman Chairwoman Linda L. Gillick said.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Dover Township municipal building, 33 Washington St.
Gillick said an update will be provided for 1999 cancer case statistics in the township.
Also on the agenda will be an update on the ongoing epidemiological study of families of children with cancer.
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 interviewed 40 families of children who were diagnosed with brain, 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, who will be compared with families of children who did develop the disease to look for variables that that may be linked to childhood cancer.
Gillick said people who attend the meeting may also bring written comments on two public health assessments that were released by the state Department of Health and Senior Services and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry last month.
The health assessments determined that both the Reich Farm Superfund site and Dover Township's old landfill determined that the two sites posed public health hazards in the past because contaminants from the two sites leached into drinking water supplies.
Source: Asbury Park Press
Published: September 20, 1999
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