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ATSDR’s National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures

Neil Fischbein — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:32:30 +0000

On Friday, June 26, 2009, ATSDR hosted a kick-off meeting to launch its National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures. Here’s how ATSDR describes the initiative:

The National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures is a collaborative initiative to identify and prioritize actions for strengthening the public health approach to chemical exposures. CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR) are sponsoring this project.

A day-long meeting was held on June 26, 2009 in Washington, DC for a day-long meeting to launch this exciting stakeholder and public involvement initiative. Keynote speakers will include U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Director Dr. Linda Birnbaum. Breakout sessions allowed for discussion of specific issues related to public health and chemical exposures.

The 18 month long National Conversation will offer many opportunities for involvement, including: expert working groups, regional and local face-to-face public meetings, and web-based discussions. The resulting action agenda will outline steps for NCEH/ATSDR and other institutions to take to better protect public health from harmful chemical exposures.

Due to scheduling conflicts, we were unable to attend the kick-off meeting but we’re very interested in this initiative and will try to keep readers posted on developments here.

Did you participate in the kick-off of this “conversation?” If so, we’d like to hear from you. Please share your thoughts in the comments or privately at tceblog[at]gmail.com.

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Scientists speak out on CL Report: Disappointed, Dismayed, Disagree; Should Not Stand as Final Word (NC)

Neil Fischbein — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:34:34 +0000

We received this statement by email Wed evening (emphasis ours):

Statement in response to National Research Council report on Camp Lejeune:

We are disappointed and dismayed at the report titled, “Contaminated Water Supplies at Camp Lejeune – Assessing Potential Health Effects,” released by the National Research Council (NRC) on Saturday, June 13, 2009. This report was two years in preparation by scientists, many of whom we know and respect, that reached puzzling and in some cases erroneous conclusions. We are aware of the complex situation regarding availability and access to data, and each of us has participated in committees advising the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) about how to move forward with health studies. It is our view that the Marines and their families who were exposed to dangerous chemicals in the Camp Lejeune drinking water over several decades deserve to know if this exposure has had an effect on their health. The most direct way to assess this is to conduct valid epidemiologic studies of those who lived or worked there, and we urge ATSDR to continue their efforts to carry these to conclusion. The overall judgment about the impact of the chemicals on health can then be informed both by the general scientific literature the NRC reviewed, plus findings from directly relevant studies of the exposed population.

Specific areas where we disagree with the NRC report include their assessment of the water distribution modeling, their assessment of the risk caused by exposure to two of the principal contaminants (TCE and PCE), and the likelihood of conducting meaningful epidemiologic studies in this setting. We view the water modeling undertaken by ATSDR and its consultants as “state-of-the-art” and worth carrying through to completion so that it can be used in the on-going and proposed health studies. There may be uncertainties about specific levels of exposure for individual households or people, but these can be described in the study results. We also agree with the National Toxicology Program that TCE and PCE are “reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens” and reject the characterization of the evidence as “limited/suggestive” as presented in the NRC report. We note that this characterization of solvent mixtures actually steps back from previous work done by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine in 2003. Finally, we disagree with the thrust of the NRC report that it is unlikely that scientifically informative epidemiologic studies of the Camp Lejeune population can be done. The NRC doubts that “definitive” answers can come from any study, but this sets the bar too high – no one study can provide definitive answers, and all studies must be considered in the light of other scientific evidence. From our experience in other settings, we believe that useful studies of the Camp Lejeune population are possible and furthermore that the Marines and their families deserve our government’s best efforts to carry them out.

For these reasons, we urge the ATSDR to consider this particular NRC report in the context of other expert advice they have received during the past decade and the competent work already done by agency staff. Since the NRC report is at such variance with the recommendations of other water modeling and epidemiologic experts, we believe it should not stand as the final word.

Sincerely,

Ann Aschengrau, Sc.D., Professor, Associate Chair of the Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health

Richard Clapp, D.Sc., MPH, Professor, Boston University School of Public Health

David Ozonoff, MD, MPH, Professor and Chair Emeritus of the Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health

Daniel Wartenberg, Ph.D., Professor, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D., Scholar in Residence, Ithaca College

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Controversy over North Brunswick Township High School risk report (NJ)

Neil Fischbein — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:40:37 +0000

The ATSDR has delivered yet another report concluding that a contamination site poses “no apparent public health risk.” Just toss it in the pile. Feel free to roll your eyes. (For those who don’t know, ATSDR is notorious for producing these reports)

There is “no apparent public health risk” at the North Brunswick Township High School and its surrounding areas associated with the soil contamination found in 2003, according to a preliminary public health assessment.

Last Thursday, township officials and representatives from the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services and the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry held a meeting to discuss the remediation project that resulted from the expansion of the high school in 2003. The primary concern for the school, Veterans Park, Judd Elementary School, a PSE&G easement and six nearby residences was arsenic in surface soil, lead in settled dust and tetrachloroethylene (TCE) [sic] in groundwater.

In July 2003, waste material consisting of pharmaceutical and laboratory wastes, glass vials, bottles and an unidentified dark brown material were uncovered near and within the Oval area of the high school, which is where the current auditorium sits. It is believed that the site was used as a municipal dump between the 1940s and 1960s. Approximately 9,200 cubic yards of waste materials and soil were excavated and removed, according to the report.

Since that time, officials said 54 soil samples and 18 interior surface samples were taken from the high school, and 10 interior surface samples were collected from Judd, with follow-up tests conducted. The high school perimeter and football field, as well as the neighboring park and residences at block 143, lots 94.01 and 95.01 were also examined.

Although remediation is still needed at Veterans Park and efforts will continue to oversee and limit any possible groundwater and vapor contamination, the report states that there are no cancer or noncancer health risks associated with the project.

We note that the story seems to confuse TCE and PCE. It is not clear which of these is the contaminant of concern referenced above. No matter which it is, residents were reportedly suspicious of the report’s findings:

One parent claimed his son “lived in the dirt” for 18 years as an athlete and developed a brain tumor, although he is not positive there is a correlation. A student noted that the epidemiology report is only calculated through 2001, but statistics may have changed through 2008. Another person mentioned that the cancer rates should be evaluated specific to the area surrounding the high school and not broadened out to the general population, since any health effects will involve North Brunswick.

Also, residents are concerned that there could have been inhalation of chemicals since the investigation and remediation phase began, and that sites that have not been remediated, such as the high school perimeter, the overused football field and Judd school, could have contaminants in the soil that become disturbed and loosened as time goes on. One parent is concerned that no additional testing was done at Judd before the current expansion and renovation project began.

Read the full story in the North Brunswick Sentinel (NJ).

Update: Strangely, the report above fails to mention that ATSDR conducted a separate public health assessment re: exposure to Arsenic and TCE at 3 nearby residences in 2005 (yeah, we confirmed the contaminant is TCE and not PCE). They reported TCE contamination in groundwater at levels up to 140 ppb, TCE in indoor air in homes at levels of 12μg/m3, and arsenic dust that coated indoor air surfaces. They concluded that past exposure posed a public health hazard and, at the time, ongoing exposure posed an indeterminate public health hazard.

We suspect we’re going to be hearing more on this story. As always, we’ll try to keep you psted.

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Yorktown Naval base still heavily contaminated (VA)

Neil Fischbein — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 17:24:23 +0000

The Daily Press (Hamptons Road, VA) reports:

A cancer-causing industrial solvent has been found coursing in huge levels through the water table under Naval Weapons Station Yorktown.

One test showed the trichloroethylene, or TCE, at 18,000 parts per billion, or ppb. A follow-up test put it at 3,900 ppb.

By a quirk of geology, the water table drains into Indian Field Creek, which flows directly into the York River.

Years after those tests, the TCE level is now 800 ppb. But the landfill thought to be creating the pollution has yet to be entirely cleaned up, despite the off-the-charts sample data.

TCE is just one of many serious pollution problems at the secretive Navy base. More than 30 polluted sites have been identified, and about half have been cleaned up.

Camp Lejeune: Who to contact for more information? (NC)

Neil Fischbein — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:41:14 +0000

As a result of Tuesday’s press and hearing, we’ve received a number of emails from affected Marines and their families, all asking the same question: How can I learn more?

As we’ve posted previously, at least two websites have emerged that are run by former Camp Lejeune marines and their families:

Also, the attorneys at Anderson Weber & Pangia have agreed to represent exposure victims and their families in a lawsuit against the responsible parties. Certainly, they know much more about the situation. (Note: Those of you who arrived here looking for information about the Camp Lejeune class action lawsuit should contact them.)

Of course, the ATSDR maintains a Camp Lejeune website with answers to Frequently Asked Questions and the Marines have their own website as well (note: As of this posting, it appears the Marines website is offline – maybe too much CL traffic?).

In addition, we’ve been covering developments in the CL story for the past two years now. You can read our entire history of Camp Lejeune posts here (click link, keep scrolling down).

Finally, in case these links don’t provide the necessary information, we are attempting to determine who is best positioned to field specific questions about CL and the water contamination there. We will either report back here, or email privately to those folks who have contacted us. To be alerted when we determine a better point of contact for Camp Lejeune information, please feel free to contact us directly.

June 14, 2007 Update: For folks looking to complete a Form 95 or looking for assistance with it, please see here.

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Hearing tomorrow re: Camp Lejeune; Webcast available (DC, NC)

Neil Fischbein — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 21:24:04 +0000

The Camp Lejeune hearing begins tomorrow. You can watch/listen via webcast here. It appears the witness list for the hearing has been revised. The updated witness list includes:

Panel I

Mr. Jerome Ensminger

North Carolina

Dr. Mike Gross

Texas

Mr. Jeff Byron

Ohio

Panel II

United States Marine Corps

Major General Robert C. Dickerson, Jr.

Commanding General

PSC Box 20005

Camp Lejeune, NC 28542-0005

Accompanied by Ms. Kelley A. Dreyer

Environmental Restoration Program Manager

Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps (I&L)

2 Navy Annex

Washington, DC 20380-1775

United States Navy

Ms. Pat Leonard

Director

Office of the Judge Advocate General

Claims, Investigations, & Tort Litigation (Code 15)

1322 Patterson Avenue, Suite 3000

Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5066

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease registry

Thomas Sinks, Ph.D.

Deputy Director

National Center for Environmental Health/ATSD

Mail Stop E-28

1600 Clinton Road

Atlanta, GA 30333

Accompanied by Frank Bove, Sc.D.

Senior Epidimiologist (sic)

and

Morris Maslia

Environmental Engineer

Panel III

Mr. Peter J. Murtha

Director

Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics, and Training

Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

U.S. Enviornmental Protection Agency

1200 Pennsylvanie Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20460

Accompanied by Mr. Tyler Amon

Special Agent

Criminal Investigation Division

Mr. Franklin Hill

Director, Superfund Division

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Region 4

61 Forsyth Street, SW

Atlanta, GA 30303

Maria G. Crosse, Ph.D.

Director, Public Health and Military Health Care Issues

U.S. Government Accountability Office

441 G Street, NW, Room 5K21

Washington, DC 20548

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MEDIA ADVISORY: Camp Lejeune Congressional hearings this Tuesday (DC, NC)

Neil Fischbein — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 15:09:17 +0000

NEWS RELEASE

Committee on Energy and Commerce

Rep. John D. Dingell, Chairman

For planning purposes: June 8, 2007

Contact: Jodi Seth 202-225-5735

MEDIA ADVISORY:

Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Hearing on Contaminated Drinking Water at Camp Lejeune

The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing
on Tuesday, June 12, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2322 Rayburn House
Office Building. The hearing is entitled Poisoned Patriots:
Contaminated Drinking Water at Camp Lejeune.

The purpose of this hearing is to examine issues arising from the
extensive, high-level contamination of drinking water at U.S. Marine
Corps Base Camp Lejeune. This is the first of a series of hearings the
Subcommittee plans to hold on environmental problems at Department of
Defense (DOD) facilities.

The hearing will include testimony from former Marine Corps residents
of Camp Lejeune who, along with their families, drank the contaminated
water, cooked their food in it, and bathed in it. The Subcommittee
will also receive testimony from the Government agencies involved in
dealing with the contamination, assessing the adverse health effects,
and investigating allegations of criminal violations of Federal law,
including the Marine Corps, the Department of the Navy, ATSDR, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Government
Accountability Office (GAO).

WITNESS LIST

Panel I

Mr. Jerome Ensminger

North Carolina

Dr. Mike Gros

Texas

Mr. Jeff Byron

Ohio

Panel II

United States Marine Corps

Major General Robert C. Dickerson, Jr.

Commanding General

Accompanied by Ms. Kelly A. Dreyer

Environmental Restoration Program Manager

United States Navy

Ms. Pat Leonard
Director

Office of The Judge Advocate General

Claims, Investigations, & Tort Litigation (Code 15)

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Department of Health and Human Services

Thomas Sinks, Ph.D.

Deputy Director

National Center for Environmental Health/ATSDR

Accompanied by Frank Bove, Sc.D.

Senior Epidimiologist

and

Morris Maslia, P.E.

Environmental Engineer

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Government Accountability Office report on VOC’s at Camp Lejeune (NC)

Neil Fischbein — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:23:54 +0000

On May 11, 2007, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a controversial 75-page report entitled: Defense Health Care: Activities Related to Past Drinking Water Contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (GAO-07-276). While we intend to dig further into the report and discuss it here in the future, here is the official GAO summary (emphasis added by us):

In the early 1980s, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were discovered in
some of the water systems serving housing areas on Marine Corps Base
Camp Lejeune. Exposure to certain VOCs may cause adverse health effects,
including cancer. In 1999, the Department of Health and Human Services’
(HHS) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) began a
study to examine whether individuals who were exposed in utero to the
contaminated drinking water are more likely to have developed certain
childhood cancers or birth defects. ATSDR has projected a December 2007
completion date for the study. The National Defense Authorization Act of
Fiscal Year 2005 required GAO to report on past drinking water
contamination and related health effects at Camp Lejeune. In this report
GAO describes (1) efforts to identify and address the past
contamination, (2) activities resulting from concerns about possible
adverse health effects and government actions related to the past
contamination, and (3) the design of the current ATSDR study, including
the study’s population, time frame, selected health effects, and the
reasonableness of the projected completion date. GAO reviewed documents,
interviewed officials and former residents, and contracted with the
National Academy of Sciences to convene an expert panel to assess the
design of the current ATSDR study.

Efforts to identify and address the past drinking water contamination at
Camp Lejeune began in the 1980s, when Navy water testing at Camp Lejeune
detected VOCs in some base water systems. In 1982 and 1983, continued
testing identified two VOCs–trichloroethylene (TCE), a metal degreaser,
and tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a dry cleaning solvent–in two water
systems that served base housing areas, Hadnot Point and Tarawa Terrace.
In 1984 and 1985 a Navy environmental program identified VOCs, such as
TCE and PCE, in some of the individual wells serving the Hadnot Point
and Tarawa Terrace water systems. Ten wells were subsequently removed
from service. Department of Defense (DOD) and North Carolina officials
concluded that on- and off-base sources were likely to have caused the
contamination. It has not been determined when contamination at Hadnot
Point began. ATSDR has estimated that well contamination at Tarawa
Terrace from an off-base dry cleaner began as early as 1957. Activities
related to concerns about possible adverse health effects began in 1991,
when ATSDR initiated a public health assessment evaluating the possible
health risks from exposure to the contaminated drinking water. The
health assessment was followed by two health studies, one of which is
ongoing. While ATSDR did not always receive requested funding and
experienced delays in receiving information from DOD for its Camp
Lejeune-related work, ATSDR officials said this has not significantly
delayed their work. Former residents and employees have filed about 750
claims against the federal government. Additionally, three federal
inquiries into issues related to the contamination have been
conducted–one by a Marine Corps-chartered panel and two by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Members of the expert panel that
the National Academy of Sciences convened generally agreed that many
parameters of ATSDR’s current study are appropriate, including the study
population, the exposure time frame, and the selected health effects.
ATSDR’s study is examining whether individuals who were exposed in utero
to the contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune between 1968 and 1985
were more likely to have specific birth defects or childhood cancers
than those not exposed. DOD, EPA, and HHS provided technical comments on
a draft of this report, which GAO incorporated where appropriate. Three
members of an ATSDR community assistance panel for Camp Lejeune provided
oral comments on issues such as other VOCs that have been detected at
Camp Lejeune, and compensation, health benefits, and additional
notification for former residents. GAO focused its review on TCE and PCE
because they were identified by ATSDR as the chemicals of primary
concern. GAO’s report notes that other VOCs were detected. GAO
incorporated the panel members’ comments where appropriate, but some
issues were beyond the scope of this report.

For the original summary, see here.
To download the full report in PDF format, click here.

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ATSDR’s ToxFAQs for TCE

Neil Fischbein — Sat, 19 Feb 2005 23:29:08 +0000

Direct link here. Also added as permanent link in the right column under Science/Agency sites (——>)

Update:

ATSDR’s full Toxicological profile of TCE (1997) is here.

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Public Health Assessment: Cheshire, CT

Neil Fischbein — Sat, 19 Feb 2005 21:21:19 +0000

In the spirit of sharing and for research purposes, we’d like to make available any Public Health Assessments (PHA’s) that have been drafted or completed and involve TCE (or related issues).

First up is the 2005 Final Public Health Assessment for Cheshire, CT (the self-proclaimed Bedding Plant Capital of CT) conducted by the ATSDR and the CT Department of Public Health. History of this PHA can be found at the Cancer in Cheshire website* (also a permanent member of our Community site links over to the right (—->). Findings include:

- The town’s public water supply (serving just over 20,000 pople) suffered from 16-30 years of ongoing TCE contamination;
- TCE contamination found in the town’s private water supply over past 20 yrs. No add’l sampling ordered. Past and current health risk unknown;
- Known contamination sites, discovered over 20 yrs ago, may still be contaminated;
- Cancer rates (multiple types) elevated with statistical significance and some with rising trends;
- Official conclusion: Past exposure to TCE in the public water supply presented No Apparent Public Health Hazard;
- No follow-up recommended.

You can download the full PHA here (FYI: This is an 8 MB pdf document).

If you have any PHA’s that you would like to share, please contact us directly.

–

*Disclosure: I am a co-founder of the cancer in cheshire website and was petitioner of the ATSDR (which prompted the assessment above).

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