With respect to search terms to use I think the scientists and doctors call what you are looking for a "cancer cluster". I hope you find very little evidence of this in JC. There were some doozies of ones which played thier part in spurring the Clean Water Drinking Act decades ago. Hopefully since that time these cancer clusters have dissapated somewhat...

If you can help point me in the right direction, I will be happy to contact anyone/everyone who should be investigating/studying/moving their backside to remediate this stuff. I'm pretty much like a pit bull once I sink my teeth into something, and I'll stick with it and be a good thorn in their side, but the thing is, I simply wouldn't know where to begin. I could easily see myself being passed from one department to another, about 20 times, only to have source #20 refer me back to source #1 to start the whole thing over again.

If anyone could direct me to a person in charge, I'll be happy to do the dirty work. I just don't want to waste hours upon hours of time spinning my wheels while nobody takes it seriously and just passes the buck.

I'd be interested to have an update on sites that have already been remediated, the progress of sites currently being remediated, plus and update of sites waiting to be remediated, along with time frames.

I'd also like to see a composite map of known dump areas and find out who is in charge of testing. I posted earlier in the thread about how could the bowling alley, the former roosevelt stadium (currently Society Hill), Metro Field, and the annex behind Pathmark be contaminated, while Pathmark, K-Mart, Home Depot, etc. are not. It makes no sense whatsoever. I want to see if and when those areas were tested, and what the results were. I do believe that there have been purposful omissions of testing sites, to prevent the inconvenience of profitable corporations losing money if their site were to need remediation, while the well being of general public is sacrificed for their profit. I do believe that there is a "dirty little secret."

I'd really like to know where to begin.

I'd still like to know how to test my own dog-gone house for the stuff, too. It would make me sleep easier (or possibly not at all if the results were bad).

Red-Deutsch:

The story of your family's colon and stomach cancer sounds like JC might be a hot spot for Cr+6. So are bone cancer reports.

When parts of Long Island have been revealed as hot spots for breast cancer it made national news; it seems like nobody cares about JC.

Stay tuned, because we all should call CDC and report here.

Thank you so much!

I wish I were able to dig stuff up as well as some of the people here. Maybe I just don't "Google" right. LOL I've spent hours searching this stuff out to the best of my ability, and I wasn't able to find any of these resources until they were posted right here in this thread. This has been very enlightening for me.

I will definitely be talking to my doctor about this whole thing and seek his/her (depending who is on duty) advice on how to proceed.

Again, thank you!

As far as the article (if others don't feel like reading the whole thing), here's the crux (directly quoted from the source article):

"In addition, the study found that New Jersey's statewide death rate for bowel cancer - cancer of the colon or rectum - was between 20 and 50 percent higher than the national average."

It goes on to imply a correlation between the presence and number of toxic waste sites in specific areas with higher incidence, including our very own JC. It says that the American Cancer Society plans to conduct further study.

Red - I'm very sorry to read of your parent's death from cancer. But your query is interesting...and led me to dig up a 25 year old study from UMDNJ that showed a higher incidence of bowel/stomach cancers in our area vs. the national average.

The stats are old - but I wonder what the full study looked like and what, if anything, was done to further track this disturbing epidemiological trend:

STUDY ARTICLE NY TIMES

You might also want to Google 'China/Chromium 6' or 'Mexico/Chromium 6.' Some past studies (flawed, but interesting) were done that points to some connections between stomach cancers and high degrees of chromium exposure.

In terms of testing, I believe chromium leaves the body very quickly upon exposure - not sure there would be residual build up. I have seen hair testing kits online that test for heavy metal exposure, but I'm a bit skeptical of these.

I would check out the testing resource posted earlier - they could probably point you in the right direction.

Aside from lung cancer, it might be interesting to look at numbers for colon cancer and stomach cancer, as well.

I was reading one of the links above, and those two areas of the body seem to be susceptable, as well.

ps - both of my parents, life long JCers - both died from colon cancer before age 60. My dad was only 52, actually. That's young. To have both parents die from the same exact disease, same exact course, same exact outcome - It's like getting hit by lightning twice. Personally, I just can't chalk it up to "bad luck" or coincidence, especially since I've had similar medical issues myself since my early 30's. That's WAY too young.

I truly believe that there is something more to this whole thing. Maybe my family just lived on a hot spot, or whatever, I can't say.

This topic has been very interesting for me, and I've learned a ton that I never knew before.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed (and hopefully will continue to contribute) information/opinions on this topic. Aside from my personal interest, I really feel it is an important issue for our city and our collective health and well being.

Aside from learning about tests that are available to detect chromium in the body system (never knew there were any), does anyone know what happens if excess levels are detected? Is there any way to reduce the amount that might be in someone's system if it does happen to be high? Is there any way of getting it out of your system, or is it a "now you know but it's too late" type deal?

Also - does anyone know if there any home test kits available out there for chromium detection? Maybe something similar to the radon kits that home inspectors use, or something like one of those home mold test kits, or whatever?

Thanks again...

As an FYI, osteosarcoma is considered an "orphan disease," that is, a rare disease that impacts a relatively small number of individuals.

There are about 900 new cases of osteosarcoma diagnosed in the United States each year. About 400 of these cases occur in children and adolescents younger than 20 years old. Osteosarcoma is about 50% more common in males than in females. Most osteosarcomas occur between the ages of 10 and 30. Teenagers are the most commonly affected age group, but it can occur at any age. About 10% of all osteosarcomas occur in people over the age of 60.

Now put that in perspective with lung cancer. In 2004, 108,355 men and 87,897 women were diagnosed with this major cancer.

It is unlikely that JC is a hotspot for osteosarcoma, but I'd be interested in seeing the data if you uncover anything unusual.

I call bullshit on the lung cancer study.

For lung cancer to occur, chromium needs to be airborne, and it often is not, as it is mostly buried and covered with clean fill.

Bone cancer would be my concern, as it would indicate that Cr +6 may be in the water.

I will call CDC and the EPA and try to find out whether JC is a bone cancer hotspot.

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr/chromium/

ANALYSIS OF LUNG CANCER INCIDENCE NEAR
CHROMIUM-CONTAMINATED SITES IN NEW JERSEY
(a/k/a Hudson County Chromium Sites)
JERSEY CITY, HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
(September 2008)

Summary
In response to community requests, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) evaluated the relationship between historic exposure to chromium from chromium ore processing residue (COPR) sites and the incidence of lung cancer in Jersey City (Hudson County), New Jersey over a 25 year period.
Hudson County was a major center for chromium ore processing and manufacturing. Nearly three million tons of COPR was produced, and much of was used as fill material in construction of residential and commercial sites in the 1950s and 1960s. More than 160 COPR disposal sites have been identified in Hudson County, 136 sites in Jersey City alone. COPR contained high concentrations of total chromium, with small and varying proportions being hexavalent chromium (Cr+6), the most toxic form. Cr+6 is known to cause lung cancer in humans.
This investigation of lung cancer incidence included the population residing in Jersey City from 1979 through 2003. Annual population estimates were derived from U.S. Census Bureau data. The New Jersey State Cancer Registry in the NJDHSS was used to determine the number of lung cancer cases occurring in the Jersey City population. A total of 3,249 malignant incident lung cancer cases (2,040 males and 1,209 females) were included in this investigation. Lung cancer cases were aggregated by U.S. Census Bureau census block groups, based on the case?s residence at the time of diagnosis.
The NJDEP, using historic information on the location of known COPR sites along with their contaminant levels, characterized census block groups as to their potential for residential Cr+6 exposure in Jersey City. The Appendix to this Health Consultation contains a detailed description of the chromium exposure categorization. For the epidemiological analysis, census block groups were aggregated into ?exposure intensity groups? (none, low, or high) based on the proportion of the residential part of the block group within 300 feet of COPR site boundaries. Four alternative definitions were considered for the ?high? exposure intensity group.
Data were analyzed two ways. The first approach compared the incidence of lung cancer in Jersey City for the populations classified within each exposure intensity group to cancer incidence for the entire state during the same 25-year time period. The second approach compared the lung cancer incidence in each exposure intensity group in Jersey City over the entire exposure period to the lung cancer incidence in the non-exposed group in Jersey City during the same period. The analyses showed similar results.
Compared to the state, lung cancer incidence in Jersey City was higher than expected in all exposure groups for males and lower than expected in all exposure groups for females.
iii
In both analysis approaches, an increase in the rate of lung cancer incidence was found for populations living in closer proximity to historic COPR sites. Based on the internal Jersey City comparison, males in the high exposure group had a lung cancer incidence rate ranging from 7% to 17% higher than the no exposure group, depending on the definition of high exposure. Similarly, females in the high exposure group had a lung cancer incidence rate ranging up to 10% higher than the no exposure group.
Lung cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in both males and females, and is the leading cause of cancer mortality for both sexes in New Jersey and the country. Recent trends indicate that incidence and mortality rates have been declining nationwide for males, but continuing to rise for females. Tobacco smoking is considered the most important risk factor, accounting for more than 85% of all lung cancer deaths. Other known risk factors for lung cancer include indoor exposure to radon and environmental tobacco smoke, occupational exposure to cancer-causing agents in the workplace, and exposure to air pollution. Information on these potential risk factors was not available for analysis in this investigation.
Residential proximity to COPR sites at the time of cancer diagnosis was used as a crude surrogate for exposure potential. However, it is unlikely that all of the residents in the designated areas were exposed to hexavalent chromium from the COPR sites, and those living outside the designated exposed areas may have been exposed to chromium. In addition, no information was available on the residence histories of cases. The consequence of misclassifying true exposure in this investigation is to decrease the chances of seeing differences in incidence rates due to exposure.
Based on the internal comparison within Jersey City, an increased risk of lung cancer incidence was found for populations living in close proximity to historic COPR sites, although the increases were not statistically significant. The results suggest that living closer to COPR sites is a potential risk factor for the development of lung cancer, but these findings do not prove a cause-effect relationship. While the findings are consistent with evidence from occupational health studies, other potential risk factors that could not be accounted for in the analysis cannot be ruled out.
It is important to note that the historic potential exposures described in this investigation do not represent the current conditions in the city, since considerable remediation of the COPR sites has occurred. However, it is recommended that efforts to remediate COPR sites to limit human exposure to hexavalent chromium should continue.
Recent information from the National Toxicology Program indicates that ingestion of Cr+6 in drinking water increases the risk of oral and small intestine cancers in laboratory animals. A recent study of a Chinese population exposed to Cr+6 in drinking water provided evidence of an increased risk of stomach cancer. Therefore, the NJDHSS should consider evaluating additional cancer types in relation to proximity to COPR sites.[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3012/3030734311_5659161d8f.jpg?v=0[/img]NJ DEP - Chromium

Quote:

Whatever you say, jerseymom. Keep hoping.

The fact is that my first landlady in JC, a wonderful lady who lived in JC all her life, died of bone cancer at 66.

Coincidence?

I think not.

Someone should have measured the Chromium 6 content in her marrow.

Fact is, JC is an extremely toxic environment.

Caveat emptor.

Here's an interesting chromium fact sheet from the Department of Health and Human Services:

Chromium Fact Sheet

Tests can be done on the hair, blood and urine to determine chromium exposure.

Here's an excerpt about testing:

ATSDR can tell you where to find occupational and environmental health clinics. Their specialists can recognize, evaluate, and treat illnesses resulting from exposure to hazardous substances. You can also contact your community or state health or environmental quality department if you have any more questions or concerns.

For more information, contact:

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32
Atlanta, GA 30333
Phone: 1- 800-232-4636 / TTY: 888-232-6348
FAX: 770-488-4178
Email: cdcinfo@cdc.gov

One thing I wonder is whether people who live downtown in brownstoneland are exposed to anything other than old lead paint.

Has anyone here know anyone who lives in Harsimus Cove brownstoneland ever actually gotten a chromium blood test, or tests for any other pollutant other than lead?

If so, what were the results?

And the water is fine in Jersey City, especially the school...No class action on sick kids either thank-you !

Sorry for the typo, Cali. Here's a new article from the JJ about Chromium studies and lung cancer:

--------------------------------------------

Two chromium studies in city differ on lung cancer threat
Saturday, November 15, 2008
By PAUL KOEPP
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A new state study has found a correlation between lung cancer rates and exposure to chromium in Jersey City over the past three decades, but another recent investigation found little exposure in residences over the past two years, according to summaries of the two studies.

One study, completed last month by the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Health and Senior Services, found that men living near chromium-contaminated sites had rates up to 17 percent higher than men in other areas, while rates for women were up to 10 percent higher.

The study looked at all 3,249 cases of lung cancer reported in Jersey City between 1979 and 2003.

As a result of the city's industrial past, residents in some areas, including the West Side where Honeywell International is doing an extensive cleanup, have been exposed to hexavalent chromium, known to increase the risk of lung cancer when inhaled.

The other study, done for the state by the Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Institute, of Piscataway, found "no evidence of chromium levels likely to cause health effects" in 100 Jersey City homes between November 2006 and April 2008. Homes that were close to capped or partially remediated sites did not have higher chromium levels than other neighborhoods, the study found.

A second phase of the EOHSI study will monitor children's urine in volunteer homes to determine residential chromium exposures.

Honeywell will be conducting a pilot program, as part of its cleanup, to see whether contaminated soil can be chemically treated to reduce its concentration of chromium to a safe level.

I posted about PPG not PSEG and I did not say they caused this case, but there is scientific evidence that proves Hexavalent Chromium is a carcinogen. New studies coming soon to support the extent of the problem.

Pictures speak volumes:



This photo was from the Garfield Ave site.

The tests conducted from this sample showed concentrated levels of Chromium Six. A deadly carcinogen that is creeping through the soil of Jersey City. Fiction could not be this scary.

First, the causes of bone cancer are not entirely known and the connection to chromium is not definitive (chromium has been linked to lung cancer which can spread to bones in advanced stages of the disease).

Second, there's a whole lot more to the Jersey City chromium story - and putting the blame squarely on PSEG doesn't present the whole story.

You might want to start here first:

NY TIMES - LIVE IN NEWPORT/SOCIETY HILL? YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ THIS.

Then check out our local superfund sites:

EPA Superfund Sites in JC/Hudson County

Sad to say, many of us are living on top of chromium, thanks to a whole lot of folks-to-blame from days gone by.

As an aside, my prayers are with the family of the young girl fighting osteosarcoma. I hope she makes a healthy recovery. MSK is a great institution with some of the best advances in cancer care in the nation.

PPG CEO Charles E. Bunch
please call me, ask me how I sleep at night, if I use ambien!
Fed Reserve Cleveland: Board Chairman: Charles E. Bunch Public Affairs: (216) 579-2048 Community Affairs: (216) 579-2392



http://www.weehawkenreporter.com/page ... =&#cb_post_comment_522228

Battling the odds at 14
JC girl has life-threatening cancer; fundraiser Nov. 15
by Ricardo Kaulessar

(Victoria) Beckner was diagnosed in August with bone cancer after she felt pain in her knees during a family vacation. Since then, she has endured prolonged stays at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York for chemotherapy to remove cancerous tumors that have weakened her left leg and lower spine.

Bone cancer is considered the sixth leading cause of cancer amongst children ages 14 and under in the U.S., and affects about 900 people (children and adults) each year, with one third succumbing.


--------------------------------
http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/eleventh/profiles/s045chro.pdf

Chromium Hexavalent Compounds*
Known to be human carcinogens
First Listed in the First Annual Report on Carcinogens (1980)
...
including leukemia and bone cancer (reviewed by Costa 1997).

--------------------------------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rXBjN8HCNo

Our demands are that PPG remove the contaminated soil now!
No more funding delays, fake science and public relation stunts.

Shame on you Charlie and PPG!

-----------------------------
PPG
Market Cap. 7.45 billion.

MAJOR DIRECT HOLDERS (FORMS 3 & 4)
Holder Shares Reported

CHARLES E BUNCH
113,430 shares 20-Feb-08
@45.38/share = $5,147,453.40 in blood money.


Charles E. Bunch

Major BUSH/CHENEY contributer; Nov 21st is your deadline.

http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=126331

Born: c. 1949
Birthplace: Philadelphia, PA

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Business

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: CEO of PPG Industries

Chairman of the Board/Director/CEO
PPG Industries, Inc.
Pittsburgh , PA
Sector: CONGLOMERATES / Conglomerates
Officer since January 1997

Director , H.J. Heinz Company
Pittsburgh , PA
Sector: CONSUMER GOODS / Food - Major Diversified

Director , PNC Financial Services Group
Pittsburgh , PA
Sector: FINANCIAL / Money Center Banks

58 Years Old
CHARLES E. BUNCH, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PPG Industries, Inc. Mr. Bunch, 58, has been a Director of PPG since 2002. He was President and Chief Operating Officer of PPG from July 2002 until he was elected President and Chief Executive Officer in March 2005 and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in July 2005. Before becoming President and Chief Operating Officer, he was Executive Vice President of PPG from 2000 to 2002 and Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning and Corporate Services, of PPG from 1997 to 2000. Mr. Bunch is also a director of the H. J. Heinz Company and The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.

The first time I walked past the Garfield Avenue address, I had no idea what it was. I gathered it was a former industrial site, but it seemed unusual that an empty lot would have such a prominently displayed address, so I stopped and read the posted signs. I also took a photo for the heck of it. This was about the same time a security guard came out of the trailer and hurried to the gate while yelling angrily at me.

Explaining that I was within my rights standing on a public sidewalk, and was not trespassing wasn't good enough for her. "As far as I'm concerned you're trespassing!" It wasn't worth the frustration of arguing with a person in a irrational state so I took another photo and left.

Later I read about the demolished PPG facility and the site, capped with concrete, is still contaminated with "hexavalent" chromium. Based on what I read, it seems that PPG has not been proactive with remediation efforts which might partly explain the guard's defensive attitude.

The sign on the lower left reads:

GARFIELD AVENUE RENEWAL PROJECT
ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTIGATION
IN PROGRESS AT THIS SITE

For further information contact
PPG Industries
Jon Holt, Community Relations Consultant
908-832-0557

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Community Relations
1-800-253-5647

Edit: Although the date in the upper left is today's date, upon further inspection, it looks like the article is actually pretty old.

Heh... guess I won't be in attendance afterall, unless I finally finish up that time machine I've been working on.

Thanks for the link anyway, though!

Thank you for posting the link!

I will be in attendance at that meeting!

Pretty close, sans the radioactive part:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BR ... id=15567328&PAG=461&rfi=9

And here are the areas with fill:
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/njgs/geodata/histfillpdf/jersey.pdf

I thinkg the good news for at least some in fill areas is that I am pretty sure they started to fill in areas of the bay(s) in the 18th or early 19th centuries, long before they produced these chemicals.

The story, as it's been told to me, goes like this:

(This is all word of mouth stuff - what's been told to me over the years, since childhood - I have no documentation of ANY of this, but here goes...)

In the "old days," most of the area back by the bay was unusable "swamp land." When they were digging the Holland tunnel, they needed a place to put all the spoil, so they decided to develop the area by the bay. They figured they could kill two birds with one stone... find a place to dump all the dirt, plus make some money on property sales / taxes from the newly developed Bay areas.

Around the same time, there was a factory on Kellogg St (the current location of Society Hill) that manufactured radioactive parts for the newly developed atomic bombs of the era. Apparently, in the process of this manufacturing, there were some radioactive "left overs" from the process. These "left overs" were put into barrels, and dumped into the land fill along with the dirt from the Holland Tunnel as the areas were being built up for use.

Apparently, at the time, nobody realized (or cared) that the barrels would eventually rust away and allow the contents to leech into the soil.

This is the history of the toxic waste peoblem in JC as it's been told to me over the years. I have no idea whether it's actually true or not, and I've never researched it. I woulodn't know where to begin, anyway. I'm just a life long resident, re-telling the story as it's been told to me. Please take it with a grain of salt, but I bet that there's at least some accuracy to it.

I am pretty sure that in the past they used this stuff as fill. So pretty much any area by the bay or rivers that is reclaimed land has a good chance for this.

Metro field, on West Side Ave. was the same deal, except it was actively played on by hundreds and hundreds of kids, every day, for YEARS. It wasn't some abandoned/unused stretch of land (as shown in the video). What's going to happen to us, the now grown kids who played there, I wonder... My heart goes out to the people who currently live or have to work near that stuff.

Along the same lines, how could the old site of Valley Fair/Great Eastern, the former Roosevelt Lanes (bowling alley), and the "annex" back by the bay (which used to be the site of about 5 more baseball fields and has supposedly since been remediated and had homes built upon it) have been heavily contaminated, but Pathmark and the (former) Colonette Diner are not contaminated? It's extremely unlikely. Why would the barrels of chromium have been buried all around those places, but not under them, as well? It makes no sense. It's my hunch / opinion that someone's been paid off to NOT test those areas for contamination. Turn a blind eye to it. Play dumb. Don't put one and one together. Whatever.

Yeah, I'm a little bitter about this topic. For quite a few reasons. This one really hits home to me, on a couple different levels. It's not fun being raised in a toxic waste dump. It makes your family die young. I'll probably die young, too, from the same issues my parents had.