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Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science (IOM/NAS) Reviews Great Lakes Drafts [Exit]
At the request of the CDC, an IOM/NAS committee conducted a review of the ATSDR drafts regarding hazardous substances in the twenty-six U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern....more
In 2001, the International Joint Commission requested ATSDR’s “assistance in evaluating the public health implications of environmental contamination in Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs) by providing information on ATSDR’s public health assessments of hazardous waste sites within these AOCs.” This request resulted in preparation of a report for public comment Selected Information on Chemical Releases within Great Lakes Counties Containing Areas of Concern (AOC). This report is intended to help decision-makers set future priorities for research and public health action.
ATSDR staff identified and assembled certain existing data related to both environmental pollutants and health, and they distributed a draft report for peer review in 2004. Between April 2004 and July 2007, the draft report underwent revision. An in-process draft of this report became public in 2007, before ATSDR had finished reviewing and finalizing it. Accordingly, ATSDR delayed release of the report and set about correcting deficiencies identified by multiple levels of Agency scientific staff as well as by reviewers and stakeholders.
ATSDR also sought objective evaluation of its decision to delay the release of the draft report. Working drafts from 2004 and 2007 as well as a 2008 public comment draft report were provided to the Institute of Medicine − an independent, unbiased, authoritative source of science-based health information – to conduct an independent review of the science presented in the draft report and the decision to improve its scientific content and communication prior to release. Those drafts are made available here.
Institute of Medicine,
Review of ATSDR's Great Lakes Reports
