More than a hundred graduates and employees of a school in New Jersey fell ill with cancer: the authorities are looking for a cause and do not believe in a coincidence

After dozens of brain tumor diagnoses, concern is growing among people over a medical mystery at a high school in New Jersey. NBC New York

Every inch of the average Colonia High School - from the buildings to the fields - is tested for radiation. Experts are trying to determine if there is a connection between the school and the high number of cancer cases diagnosed among former students and staff of the institution.

Al Lupiano, a graduate of this school, believes that there is a connection between the school and brain tumors diagnosed over three decades in 108 people who graduated from school in the early 2000s.

“If we can figure out what the unknown compound is in high concentrations and link it to primary brain tumors, we might be able to protect others. We should remove him from our environment to make sure this never happens again,” he said.

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Lupiano, an environmental scientist, and his wife Michelle are graduates of that high school. Both of them were diagnosed with benign brain tumors with a difference of 20 years. Sister Lupiano, also a graduate of this school, recently died of brain cancer.

Despite the number of cases, officials must first find out if there really is a link between school grounds and brain tumors.

Parents like Dawn Genoni are willing to wait for these results. “I have full confidence that they will get to the bottom of it and figure out what is going on,” Genoni said.

There doesn't seem to be any panic at this school due to reports of a brain tumor. Nobody is asking for a transfer.

Meanwhile, the City of Woodbridge is taking the lead in the investigation, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars testing at a school that has graduated some 30 students over the past 15 years. “A hundred out of 000 people have brain cancer. It certainly sounds like we should be worried,” said Woodbridge Mayor John McCormack.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the federal Environmental Protection Agency are both expressing their concern and awaiting completion of testing. It may take a few more weeks as the radon detectors installed in the classrooms collect data.

If these diseases are not caused by a source of radiation. Lupiano says other tests can be done to pinpoint the cause. “This is just the tip of the iceberg, just one of many tests that can be performed,” Lupiano summed up.