Cancer Caused by Emissions from Nuclear Power Plants

Hopes Backing Will Lead to Funding

NICHOLAS CLUNN / Asbury Park Press 17feb2005

[More on the Tooth Fairy Project]

MANAHAWKIN — A scientist well-known for collecting baby teeth at the Jersey Shore and testing them for cancer-causing radiation touted his group's studies on Wednesday before a top radiation-protection official who has been skeptical of the research.

In testimony during a state Commission on Radiation Protection meeting, Joseph Mangano, national coordinator for the Radiation and Public Health Project, tried to convince commission Chairwoman Julie Timins and other commissioners to endorse his work, which attempts to link cancer with emissions from nuclear power plants.

Mangano's request coincides with a push by the federal government to extend the lives of nuclear reactors and to build new ones.

In July, the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey is expected to seek permission to extend its life by 20 years.

Support from the nine-member volunteer commission, made up of radiation experts, would improve the research group's chances of receiving state grants, Mangano said.

Ultimately, Mangano wants to reveal what causes childhood cancer and bring peace of mind to parents of children with cancer, such as Brick resident Marie Crescenzo.

Her 15-year-old daughter, Katie, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer nearly two years ago.

Crescenzo said she asked her doctors what caused her daughter's cancer.

She also combed the Internet searching for answers but found none. Mangano's work offers Crescenzo hope, she said, though she does have reservations about his group's research.

"I wish he could come up with an answer," she said. "That would be wonderful."

But the independent research group that brought actor Alec Baldwin and supermodel Christie Brinkley to Toms River in May 2000 to promote its Tooth Fairy Project could have difficulty convincing the commission that it is legitimate.

About a month after the state mailed its first check — part of a $25,000 grant — to the health project in December 2003, Timins expressed serious concerns about the group's research methods in a letter to then-Gov. James E. McGreevey.

Skepticism continued Wednesday following Mangano's presentation before six commissioners and other top state radiation officials from the Department of Environmental Protection.

Some commissioners suggested that Mangano revise his approach. Commissioner John J. Mauro said Mangano could obtain solid results by taking a completely different route: Pull data related to radiation released by reactors.

"There's a world of analytical material out there," he said.

Commissioners seemed most concerned with the number of teeth that Mangano tested.

They said scientists would require a much larger sample to regard the work as statistically sound.

The research group used 52 teeth in its latest study, which was funded by the state grant.

It linked children with cancer and strontium-90, a radioactive isotope emitted in small doses from reactors.

The study showed children with cancer have more of the isotope in their baby teeth than children without cancer.

Mangano acknowledged the sample-size problem and welcomed commissioners' suggestions.

He said after the meeting that he would like to produce more credible research, but he needs funding, which is why he addresses the commission.

The commission plans to review Mangano's comments and the health project's studies. Once it finishes, the commission will draft an opinion on the group.

Timins said she did not know how long it would take the commission to make a decision.

Donald B. Louria, professor and chairman emeritus of the department of preventive medicine and community health at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, said the state should invest in Mangano.

"I think his hypothesis should be played out," he said. "Has Mangano proved anything? Absolutely not. But he deserves support."

Oyster Creek officials disagree. Plant spokeswoman Gina Scala said the commission should look at the many studies refuting the connection among strontium-90, reactors and cancer before reaching a decision about Mangano's work.

"We would hope that they would look at the entire picture and come to the same decision as they came to when they wrote to Governor McGreevey," she said.

Mangano said he received an opportunity to appear before the commission after Edith Gbur, president of Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch, a citizens group that wants Oyster Creek closed immediately, asked state officials to hear him.

Gbur told commissioners Wednesday that they should support the health project.

Livingston resident Jane Furst and her 14-year-old son, Cory, also urged commissioners to see value in Mangano's research.

Doctors diagnosed Cory with lung and liver cancer when he was 19 months old. Chemotherapy treatments caused him permanent hearing loss.

Dressed in a black suit, white shirt and tie, Cory asked the commission to help find out what caused his sickness by backing Mangano.

"If there is a relationship between strontium-90 and cancer, then we must shut down the nuclear power plants producing it," he said.

Alec Baldwin's letter giving his support to The Tooth Fairy Project

Dear Parents:

I am writing you as someone concerned that high cancer rates may be influenced by radioactive emissions from nuclear power plants.

I became personally involved with this issue after meeting families in Long Island, New York, whose children had developed and, in some cases, died from rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer - a cancer whose cause has been linked to radiation exposure. These families are living at "ground zero" of America's cancer epidemic. For them, the American dream has become a nightmare.

I am a native of Long Island, which has a breast cancer rate so high that federal researchers have invested millions of dollars to find a cause. Each year, over 2000 Long Island women are diagnosed with this dreaded condition. My mother, who lives in Long Island, is a breast cancer survivor.

One reason behind high cancer rates may be radioactive leaks and releases from nuclear power reactors. These releases get into the air, drinking water, and food, and enter the human body. But the U.S. government does not measure just how much radioactivity gets into the body, or whether it is harmful.

To document a possible radiation/cancer connection, the Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP) needs only one of the baby teeth that your child has lost. RPHP is collecting baby teeth as part of a national, scientific study to measure levels of radioactive Strontium-90 in these teeth. So please help. Every tooth is a clue!

I know that cancer is an overwhelming issue to confront. Yet, we have already spent $25 billion on a "War on Cancer" without any significant decline in America's cancer rates. It is only through public education, supported by solid scientific research, that we will be able to create a safe environment and healthy future for our children.

Thank you in advance for supporting the "Tooth Fairy Project."

Yours sincerely,
Alec Baldwin

source: http://www.radiation.org/spotlight/baldwin.html 20feb2005