Health officials: Smoking, obesity linked to high cancer rates in Suffolk communities

Health officials released the findings of a new report this week on varying cancer rates in Suffolk County.

News 12 Staff

Oct 18, 2019, 7:08 PM

Updated 1,883 days ago

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Health officials released the findings of a new report this week on varying cancer rates in Suffolk County.
That state Department of Health report investigated why the Suffolk communities of Centereach, Selden and Farmingville had higher cancer rates.
The report found no link between environmental factors such as air or water pollution.
Instead it linked high cancer rates to smoking, obesity and workplace exposure to hazardous substances.
News 12 reported the rates of leukemia, bladder, lung and thyroid cancers are 40 to 60% higher in Centereach, Selden and Farmingville. There was a meeting with health officials back in the summer of 2018 and state health officials launched an investigation into the cause of the cancer clusters.
That investigation has concluded, and the full report will be released before a Nov. 12 public meeting.
Adrienne Esposito, of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, called the report’s findings “ludicrous.”
She says the state didn't do its own independent environmental testing.
“The only air testing used was at a station in Holbrook, which is not even in these communities,” she told News 12.
She says the county is “ignoring the problem" and "putting the public more and more at risk every year.”