Dive summary:
- Two Staten Island high school seniors have been researching an area known as "Cancer Alley" near Fresh Kills Landfill in New York.
- The students say fungal spores around the landfill could be connected to the 11% higher rate of fatal cancer and 30% increase in heart disease from other nearby areas.
- Fresh Kills Landfills is one of the largest landfills on the eastern seaboard, and while the landfill is now closed, the spores continue to grow as the trash decomposes.
From the article:
“The thing is since Staten Island is notorious for having one of the single largest landfills on the eastern seaboard – the Fresh Kills Landfill – we hypothesize that these dangerous fungi do exist in harmful concentrations on the island,” she said.
So, landfills are conducive to growing lots of bad fungi?
“Unfortunately, yes,” she said. ...