Letter: 'Fog machine' may have been harmful

I read the Expressway "Boys, bikes and the fog machine" [July 16] and could not help but remember my childhood experiences with the "fog machine." My three older sisters and I grew up in West Islip in the 1950s and 1960s. Every summer, it was all we could do but to wait for the fog truck to start spraying the wooded areas in our neighborhood. We thought it was great fun to ride our bicycles behind the truck and be engulfed in fog.

We were never told not to do this, because who knew, at the time, that the pesticides were toxic?

My sisters and I grew up and moved away to raise our families. But one by one, each of us has been diagnosed with breast cancer at approximately the same age. We have tested negatively for the hereditary gene. This has led us to believe that our cancer was caused by an environmental source. Of course, I am not positive that the "fog truck" caused our cancers.

Thank you for reminding me of a wonderful time in my childhood when we thought this world was a safe place to be.

Sharon Chimento, Manorville