The New York State Department of Health said a study found the number of people from a Long Island school district living with cancer to be "statistically significant," but investigators stressed that the community should not be concerned.
The DOH started looking into the occurrence of all types of cancer among people living in Suffolk County's Northport-East Northport School District back in 2019, after an unusually high number of students (6) from Northport High School's class of 2016 reported leukemia and other cancer diagnoses. Other concerns about elevated levels of mercury and benzene near Northport Middle School sent fear through students and parents at the time.
In a study that was released Thursday evening, the DOH confirmed that the number of leukemia diagnoses was "statistically unusual," and the overall number of cancer cases was "statistically significant."
Over a 20-year period, the department found that the number of cancer instances among Northport-East Northport district residents was 3% higher than would be expected, according to the study. Pancreatic cancer, uterine cancer, prostate cancer and malignant melanoma of the skin were the most common occurrences, the health department stated.
Over that 20-year period, seven young adults between the ages of 15-24 living in the school district were diagnosed with leukemia, the DOH said, including some of the members of the class of 2016. Given the size of the population of that area, only two such cases would typically be expected.
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For those living within the area of Northport Middle School, where the elevated mercury and benzene levels were found, the number of cancers found was seven percent higher than expected. There were significantly more malignant melanoma and prostate cancer diagnoses than expected, the investigation found.
Meanwhile, residents in the East Northport Middle School area did not have any significantly higher level of cancers found compared to what would be expected.
Overall, the DOH investigation found that "aside from the 2016 graduates, diagnoses of leukemia were not significantly elevated among young adults in the Northport-East Northport school district or among children."
The study concluded that the leukemia diagnoses among the graduates did not appear to be part of any larger cancer patterns, and that the unusually high numbers of cancer in 2016 might have been coincidental, as the members of the class did not all go to the same middle school and because the numbers from the years before and after are normal.
As a result of their findings, the DOH said there was no additional risk to residents in the area. The investigation didn't generate any further questions, and the health department said that no further studies are needed.
The study analyzed cancer occurrence from 1999 to 2018. That analysis did not include 12-year-old Sullivan Carey, who returned to East Northport Middle School a celebrity recently — marking his first time back in the school as he battles leukemia.
"He’s currently in treatment, we hope for positive success. We try to give him a normal life," said mom Nicole Carey.
Sullivan wasn’t part of the study because he was diagnosed in 2020. While he is now doing well, how and why the boy got this insidious disease still haunts his mother. It’s why she was especially interested in the results of the comprehensive study.
"If where he lived had something to do with triggering this to happen, I would want to know so that we can prevent it happening going forward for other parents," said Nicole Carey, who would like to see more research done. "Obviously there is something troublesome about it and I think it deserves more rigor. They shouldn’t just stop they should look deeper into the he situation."
