[ RadSafe ] Fwd: Asbury Park Press article on TFP

[Norm Cohen]

Scientist seeks endorsement of research on cancer near reactors


Hopes backing will lead to funding
Published in the Asbury Park Press 02/17/05
By NICHOLAS CLUNN
MANAHAWKIN BUREAU
WHAT'S NEXT
The state Commission on Radiation Protection will consider testimony  
provided
by Joseph Mangano, national coordinator of the Radiation and Public Health
Project, and studies published by his group. It will then formulate an  
opinion
about the health project's work. A favorable assessment could help the  
group
obtain state grants.


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.



-- 
Coalition for Peace and Justice
UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave, Linwood
NJ 08221; 609-601-8583; cell 609-742-0982
ncohen12 at comcast.net; http://www.unplugsalem.org
http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org

"A time comes when silence is betrayal.
Even when pressed by the demands of
inner truth, men do not easily assume
the task of opposing their government's
policy, especially in time of war.
Nor does the human spirit move without
  great difficulty against all the apathy
of conformist thought, within one's own
bosom and in the surrounding world."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

 
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