New York Times Archives/ No Rise in Cancer Rate Found at Superfund Sites
Monday, August 13, 2007
January 20, 1999
METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW JERSEY
Cancer cases among residents in six communities around three radioactive Superfund sites in Essex and Camden Counties are no greater than the average number of cases reported elsewhere in the state, the State Department of Health and Senior Services said yesterday.
The study announced yesterday was a follow-up of earlier departmental studies that raised the possibility of increased cancer levels among residents of Camden, Gloucester City, Montclair, West Orange, Glen Ridge and Orange. The follow-up study found that these residents were at no greater risk of cancer than people in the rest of the country, said Marilyn Riley, a department spokeswoman.
The department looked at incidents of cancers of the brain and nervous system, lungs, breast, and other parts of the body, from 1979 to 1991, among residents near the U.S. Radium site in West Orange, the Welsbach site in Camden and the General Gas Mantle site in Gloucester City, Ms. Riley said.