WATERFORD, Conn. -- A controversial study collecting children's baby teeth could shed light on rising cancer rates.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Kara Sundlun recently spoke with model and activist Christie Brinkley, who has urged Connecticut officials to support the Tooth Fairy Project.

The researchers examine baby teeth and they claim the teeth show children absorb radiation from nuclear power plants that can lead to cancer.

Brinkley and the scientists behind the program deem the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant in Waterford dangerous.

Eyewitness News first talked to a scientist for the study, Joe Mangano, in 2004.

"Turn the reactor off, infants and children get healthier. Turn it on and they get sicker," he said.

Mangano said he bases his theory on radioactive Strontium-90 that only exists in atom bombs and nuclear power plants.

Sundlun reported the Tooth Fairy Project has studied hundreds of baby teeth from all around the country. The researchers found that people who live close to nuclear power plants, like Millstone, have higher the levels of Strontium-90. They also found higher cancer rates -- especially in children.

"I don't think the government really wants us to know the facts." - Christie Brinkley

Mangano said Gov. M. Jodi Rell, R-Conn., agreed to give $25,000 in state funding to study people living near the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant.

But Health Commissioner Robert Galvin pulled the plug.

Galvin issued a statement, saying, "The Department of Public Health and others, like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, identified numerous methodological problems with this proposal and did not recommend moving forward with this study."

Brinkley, who lives 11 miles from Millstone across the Long Island Sound, has donated her children's baby teeth, and she continues to urge the state of Connecticut to fund the study.

"I don't think the government really wants us to know the facts," Brinkley said.

Middletown-Area Rep. Jim O'Rourke, D-District 32, has supported stat funding for the study.

"We thought we had a commitment from the governor. Had I known it would have dragged on this long and they wouldn't follow through, I would have introduced legislation," O'Rourke said.

He added, "This study is so compelling and would wake people up and say, 'Oh my gosh, we can't do this, we can't allow these nuclear power plants in our neighborhood harming our children.'"

A representative for Dominion Nuclear Connecticut Inc., which runs the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant, told Eyewitness News the plant is monitored by the federal government 24 hours a day.

"We have not had an instance where emissions have exceeded federal guidelines and we are very careful about that," Dominion spokesman Pete Hyde said.

Hyde also pointed out that all employees at Millstone have to monitor their own bodies.

"Everyone gets a report of how much radiation we picked up," Hyde said.

The Tooth Fairy Project's analysis of the state tumor registry found the towns closest to Millstone -- including East Lyme, Groton, New London and Waterford -- have the highest rate of certain cancers.

State health officials pointed to other studies that have shown no link between cancer and nuclear power plants.

"They want to spend another 30 years trying to avoid doing a study to see the health effects on the people that these nuclear power plants effect," said Agnes Reynolds, who donated her son's teeth.

Reynolds' son, Jon, was diagnosed with leukemia.

"I don't believe it. I don't believe we have the knowledge yet. Doing studies like this can only help," Reynolds said.

"I think they should care more, and if they support this, it would show that they care more," Jon said.

The state's health commissioner told Eyewitness News he is consulting with experts to determine if more studies are needed.

Stay with WFSB.com and Channel 3 Eyewitness News for the latest health updates.

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