[CPEO-MEF] HEALTH, VOCs: Bethpage (NY) cancer study

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Evaluation of Cancer Incidence and Environmental Exposures In the  
Area of the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant (NWIRP) and  
Grumman Aerospace Sites, Bethpage, Nassau County, New York

Prepared by the Cancer Surveillance Program Center for Community  
Health New York State Department of Health with the assistance of  
staff from the New York State Cancer Registry and the Bureau of  
Environmental Exposure Investigation Center for Environmental Health
January 18, 2013

Excerpts:

Conclusions
The environmental evaluation showed that unusual environmental  
exposures had occurred in a small number of homes east of the Navy  
FDMA. It was not known how long these exposures had been present, or  
if other homes may have been affected in the past. Exposures to  
unusual levels of contaminants may have occurred in the past in a  
small number of homes south of the Grumman FSPA, but it is not known  
whether any exposures had actually occurred, and if so, exactly when,  
at what levels, and in which homes. Based on the findings of a  
completed pathway of exposure to unusual levels of contaminants for a  
small number of homes in the area east of the Navy FDMA, it was  
concluded that additional examination of cancer occurrence was  
indicated.



Conclusions
In Study area 1, the one-block area where elevated levels of  
contaminants related to the NWIRP site had been found in indoor air,  
the cancers that were identified were all of different types. While  
some of these types of cancer have been associated with some of the  
site-related contaminants, these were not uncommon cancers and have  
many known and suspected risk factors other than chemical exposures.  
There was no clear relationship between the occurrence of cancer or  
the type of cancer identified and the levels of contaminants found in  
the homes. The total number of cancers was similar to the approximate  
number expected. The only thing unusual about the cancers occurring  
in Study area 1 was the younger than usual ages of the people  
affected. Due to the limited size of this one-block area, however,  
these results do not provide a clear indication of an unusual pattern  
of cancers.

For the larger area near the NWIRP and Grumman sites, Study area 2,  
the most frequently diagnosed types of cancer in this area were the  
types most frequently found in adults, and there was no more than one  
case of any single rare cancer type. Most of the people diagnosed  
with cancer in Study area 2 were diagnosed at the ages where cancer  
occurs most frequently, and the cancers did not appear to be related  
to findings of the limited amount of air sampling that had been  
conducted. Cancer patterns in this area were therefore not unusual.



...

Fpr the entire report, go to
http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/investigations/bethpage/

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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