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Anniston Site Activities
Clement J. Welsh, PhD, MPH, Division of Health Assessment and Consultation, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

Background
Cooperative Efforts
Exposure Investigations
Other Activities
Future Activities


Background

PCBs were manufactured in Anniston, Alabama, between the late 1920s and the early 1970s. The Anniston manufacturing plant was a primary producer of PCBs used in the United States. During the 40 years PCBs were made in Anniston, PCB waste materials were buried on-site and PCBs were released into the environment. In early investigations, PCBs were discovered in fish in an Anniston-area watershed. Follow-up investigations showed that  releases of PCBs to surface waters contaminated banks and sediments of downstream ditches, creeks, and rivers in the Anniston area. In November 1993, the State of Alabama issued a "no consumption" fish advisory for the PCB-contaminated waters in the Anniston area. 

Cooperative Efforts 

Investigations conducted in the mid- to late-1990s shed more light on the extent of PCB contamination, as well as on  human exposures to PCBs in the Anniston area. These investigations were a cooperative effort among ATSDR, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),Exiting the ATSDR Web Site the Alabama Department of Public Health,Exiting the ATSDR Web Site and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.Exiting the ATSDR Web Site The investigations found that PCB contamination is attributable to operations at the former Monsanto PCB production facility (now known as Solutia Inc.).  

In 1996, the Alabama Department of Public Health released the results of an exposure investigation that concluded that the PCB levels in some residential soils were a public health hazard. Also in 1996, Monsanto instituted a property buy-out program that allowed residents to sell their contaminated properties to the company. In 1998, community groups collected soil samples from area properties and almost 3,000 blood samples from area residents. ATSDR evaluated the soil and blood data in 1999 and concluded that, although almost half of those tested had no detectable levels of blood PCBs, more than 500 persons did have elevated levels (draft document, released for public comment in February 2001). The soil samples indicated that PCB levels in some residential yards were a public health hazard. 

Exposure Investigations

During the summer of 2000, ATSDR conducted an exposure investigation of 18 Anniston families living near the former Monsanto facility (draft document, released for public comment in October 2000). The primary aim of the investigation was to evaluate current exposures to children, who are a particularly sensitive population. The exposure investigation did not find unusual exposures in the children tested, but it did find that a substantial percentage of adults tested had elevated levels of blood PCBs. 

Other Activities

 During the summer of 2000, ATSDR also examined data from samples of PCB-contaminated soil at an Anniston-area softball complex. Data review and follow-up activities resulted in a significant soil cleanup project that was conducted over the winter of 2001. Hundreds of cubic yards of PCB-contaminated soil were removed. This action eliminates potential exposures to parkgoers when the park opens for the 2001 spring season. 

ATSDR is finalizing reports of the studies previously mentioned and is preparing a health consultation assessing the potential hazard associated with an air exposure pathway in Anniston. In addition, the Alabama Department of Public Health finalized an earlier public health assessment that addressed the area near the former Monsanto facility. 

Future Activities

ATSDR is involved in several ongoing and planned education and data evaluation activities in the Anniston area. These activities include general community involvement work, general exposure prevention education, specific exposure prevention education for area gardeners, education of health care delivery professionals, evaluation of on-site landfills, and evaluation of EPA's recently collected soil data. These activities are expected to lead to a more complete conceptual model of the Anniston area PCB site, and they will strengthen the public health recommendations as they relate to site-specific conditions. 


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Anniston PCB Health Education
Theresa L. NeSmith, BS, REHS, Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

ATSDR is working on two activities related to PCBs in Anniston: general education regarding PCBs and gardening assessment and education. ATSDR is working with representatives from the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and EducationExiting the ATSDR Web Site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to develop and implement a gardening education program for Anniston residents. As part of this effort, we are meeting with community members and agency representatives to gather information about the gardening practices in Anniston and to discuss the best methods for communicating information to residents. Information gathered during the meetings and other discussions will be used to develop the gardening education program. 

We developed a fact sheet and poster about safe gardening that will be distributed to agencies and community groups throughout Anniston. We also plan to participate in some upcoming community events that focus on gardening and work with community members and other agencies to promote safe gardening. 

We also are developing health education materials for the community. These materials will describe PCBs and provide steps that people can take to reduce their potential exposure. 


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Great Lakes Human Health Effects Research Program
Heraline E. Hicks, PhD, Division of Toxicology, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Toxic substances in the Great Lakes basin present a significant public health concern. In the United States, some 80,000 commercial and industrial compounds are now in use, and more than 30,000 have been found in the basin. The International Joint Commission (IJC) has identified 11 of the most persistent and ubiquitous substances as "critical Great Lakes pollutants." These substances include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and organochlorine compounds, such as PCBs. These persistent toxic substances (PTSs) can bioaccumulate in sediment and organisms, biomagnify in food webs, and persist at high levels. Exposure to PTSs has caused toxic effects in wildlife, partly because of the persistence and ubiquitous presence of PTSs in the Great Lakes environment. Results from early epidemiologic investigations suggest the potential for adverse human health effects from exposure to PTSs (1). 

Because of the implications of an association between pollutants in the Great Lakes and the potential for adverse human health outcomes, Congress amended the Great Lakes Critical Programs Act in 1990 and, in 1992, ATSDR received funds to initiate the Great Lakes Human Health Effects Research Program (GLHHERP). GLHHERP was designed to characterize exposure to PTSs via consumption of Great Lakes fish and to investigate the potential for short- and long-term adverse health effects to these pollutants by route of exposure.




Map of the Great Lakes system.

Map of the Great Lakes system.


Research Focus 

From the onset, ATSDR focused its program on several human populations at particular risk from exposure to Great Lakes pollutants via fish consumption. These vulnerable or susceptible populations include subsistence anglers, American Indians, African Americans, Asian Americans, non-English speaking populations, pregnant women, fetuses, nursing infants of mothers who consume contaminated Great Lakes sport fish (GLSF), young children, the elderly, the urban poor, and those with compromised immune functions. ATSDR has also identified sensitive and specific human health end points to assess in these populations. These end points include developmental, reproductive, endocrinologic, and immunologic measures. 

Research Findings

Since 1992, ATSDR's GLHHERP has supported 10 studies of vulnerable communities in the Great Lakes states. The following GLHHERP findings focus on PCBs. 

Exposure 
  • Fish consumption appears to be the major pathway of exposure to PCBs. 

  • Body burdens of PCBs among these community members are two to four times higher than among the general U.S. population. There is a significant trend of increasing body burden associated with increased fish consumption. 

  • In these communities, men eat more fish than women do; men and women eat GLSF during most of their reproductive years. Consumption of GLSF by women of childbearing age increases the risk for prenatal exposure to the most heavily chlorinated PCBs. 

Demographics and Sociobehavioral Data 

  • A recent survey of adult residents of the eight Great Lakes states estimated that 4.7 million people eat GLSF in a given year; 43.9% of the respondents were women.
  • Eighty percent of minorities who had eaten GLSF were unaware of fish advisories. Awareness of  the advisories was especially low among women. 

Health Effects 

  • Conception rate and the incidence of live births are lower among some women who eat sport-caught fish.
  • Women who reported eating more than one meal per month of contaminated GLSF had significant menstrual cycle reductions.

  • In the Oswego Newborn and Infant Development Study, neurobehavioral and developmental deficits have been observed in newborns (12 to 24 hours after birth and again 25 to 48 hours after birth) of mothers who had eaten approximately 2.3 PCB-contaminated fish meals per month over their lifetime. The relationship between prenatal exposure to PCBs and performance on the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale was assessed. The relationship between PCBs and performance impairment at 25—48 hours after birth was significant. Newborns were tested again at 6 and 12 months of age using the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence. Test results indicated a significant relationship between exposure to PCBs and poor performance on the test. These cognitive deficits persist in these children at 36 months of age. 

  • PCBs and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene (DDE) were markedly elevated in an adult fish-eating cohort. Exposure to PCBs, not DDE, was associated with lower scores on several measures of memory and learning. 

  • Because of high consumption patterns in a population of American Indians, self-reported liver disease, diabetes, and muscle/joint pain may be associated with exposure to PCBs and other contaminants in fish. Elevated body burden levels of PCBs were significantly associated with poor scores on the pegboard performance test, which evaluates visual motor coordination and spatial orientation (2).

Impact of the Great Lakes Program

GLHHERP has made significant progress in reporting and evaluating findings that address public health concerns about exposure to contaminants in the basin. One reason for this progress is that the program has focused its research efforts on assessing health outcomes in vulnerable populations. ATSDR has been proactive, on the basis of these recent research findings, in providing support to develop culturally appropriate fish advisories and risk communication messages for susceptible populations. For example, regional maps have been developed in coordination with American Indians; the maps indicate which lakes, rivers, and/or streams to avoid or from which to limit their fish consumption. GLHHERP has held clinics in areas with large minority populations to ensure that these populations can identify which fish are discussed in the advisories. In addition, classes were held to discuss cleaning and preparation of fish and to describe cooking practices that reduce exposure to contaminants. These and other activities have helped to reduce elevated body burden levels in these populations to levels at or near background. 

In addition, the research findings from GLHHERP have influenced public health policy. For example, the establishment of a health protection value for PCBs in the Uniform Great Lakes Sport Fish Advisory (3) was based on other studies that showed neurologic effects in newborns. GLHHERP findings substantiated the use of neurologic effects in newborns as a sensitive human health end point. Great Lakes states are now targeting their fish advisories at vulnerable populations such as women and children. ATSDR's research findings formed the basis for 32 recommendations by IJC for negotiations of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada. Most importantly, this program provides answers to questions long asked by Great Lakes area residents about potential adverse health effects from exposure to toxic substances. 

References 

1. Hicks HE. 1996. The Great Lakes: a historical overview. Toxicol Ind Health 12:30313. 

2. Hicks HE, Cibulas W, De Rosa C. 2000. The impact of environmental epidemiology/toxicology and public health practice in the Great Lakes. Environ Epidemol Toxicol 2:812. 

3. Anderson HA, Amrhein JF, Subat P, Hesse J. 1993. Protocol for a uniform Great Lakes sport fish advisory. Madison (WI): Department of Health and Social Services, Great Lakes Sport Fish Advisory Task Force. 


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Fish Advisories
Stephen R. Blackwell, RS, MPH, Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

ATSDR, through an interagency agreement funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),Exiting the ATSDR Web Site developed a strategy for communicating information about the health risks associated with exposure to contaminants, including PCBs, in noncommercial fish. For example, ATSDR provides advice on how people who eat sport-caught fish can reduce exposures to PCBs.

Over the last 3 years, ATSDR and EPA collaborated to keep critical agencies informed about PCBs and fish consumption. The technical paper Public Health Implications of PCB Exposures (ATSDR) was distributed to state and tribal health and environmental agencies who develop and issue local health advisories. An update of the paper is available at www.epa.gov/ost/fish.Exiting the ATSDR Web Site 

In addition, EPA and ATSDR developed a brochure on the health risks associated with exposure to PCBs. The brochure, Should I Eat the Fish I Catch? A Guide to Healthy Eating of the Fish You Catch, contained advice and recommendations for reducing health risks associated with exposures to PCBs through eating contaminated fish. The brochure was sent to health care providers who primarily served the more susceptible target populations of women and children. It is available in several languages and can be ordered by calling 1-800-490-9198. 

Information about how to prepare fish and which fish are safe to eat was also distributed to health care provider groups. Exhibits included take-home educational materials to provide information and raise awareness of the fish consumption issue in the minds of health care providers and their patients.


EPA Office of Water Logo For more information on the latest activities and for links to all advisory programs in the United States, go to www.epa.gov/ost/fish.Exiting the ATSDR Web Site


EPA Software Logo

Download free interactive software on environmental topics from the SEAHOME Web site. These programs are produced by Purdue UniversityExiting the ATSDR Web Site in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.Exiting the ATSDR Web Site





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Health Effects of PCBs *
Pascale Krumm, PhD, Office of Policy and External Affairs, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

Immune effects
Neurologic effects
Endocrine effects
Reproductive effects
Other effects

PCBs cause numerous adverse health effects. PCBs induce liver cancer in animals and noncancerous effects on their immune, central nervous, endocrine, and reproductive systems. Some of the human studies are inconclusive because they fail to show a link between PCBs exposure and diseases. This is largely because epidemiologic studies have limitations that affect their ability to find health effects. These limitations include the small number of persons involved in a study (making it hard to discern a pattern), difficulty in determining actual exposure levels, and multiple confounding factors (e.g., smoking, drinking, and exposure to other contaminants). However, this does not mean that PCBs are safe. In fact, studies in humans suggest that PCBs have both carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic health effects. Therefore, EPA classifies PCBs as probable human carcinogens of medium carcinogenic hazard. 

PCBs have a long life and tend to accumulate in humans. All people in the industrialized world have PCBs in their bodies. People are exposed to PCBs primarily through eating contaminated foods, especially fish, meat, and poultry, and through inhalation. However, studies show that the levels of PCBs in humans have been decreasing steadily over the years. 

The composition of PCB mixtures changes when they are released into the environment. The most carcinogenic components of PCBs mixtures bioaccumulate in fish and other animals and bind to sediments. In fact, the build-up of PCBs in fish can reach levels thousands of times higher than the level of PCBs in water. This means that eating PCB-contaminated fish or other animal products or coming into contact with PCB-contaminated sediments is more harmful than being exposed to PCBs through occupational exposure or through PCB releases into the environment.  

Acute oral exposures of animals to PCBs are associated with damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. For humans, chronic (long-term) oral exposure to PCBs is associated with cardiovascular effects (hypertension), mild liver effects, and skin effects (acne and pigmentation). Chronic human exposure to PCBs through inhalation produces respiratory tract symptoms (cough and tightness in the chest), gastrointestinal effects (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, weight loss, and anorexia), mild liver effects, skin rashes, and eye irritation. 

Numerous health studies have focused on the carcinogenic effects of PCBs, and have concluded that PCBs cause liver cancer in animals. Studies of workers occupationally exposed to PCBs indicate increased rates of a rare liver cancer and malignant melanoma. Studies confirming the presence of liver cancer in both humans and animals exposed to PCBs lead to the conclusion that PCBs are probable human carcinogens. 

In animals, PCBs also cause a variety of noncancerous effects on the immune, central nervous, endocrine, and reproductive systems, and humans could likewise be affected. Following is a synopsis of the noncancerous health effects of PCBs. 

  • Immune effects.

     The immune system fights infection and diseases, and  persons with weakened immune systems are prone to pneumonias and viral infections. Studies of animals have shown that exposure to PCBs greatly affects the immune system, including significantly decreasing the size of the thymus gland and decreasing resistance to Epstein-Barr virus and other infections. Studies of humans also found that exposure to PCBs affects the immune system. 

  • Neurologic effects.

     Proper development of the central nervous system is critical in the early learning stages as well as in later stages of life. Animal studies have found that PCB exposure in newborn monkeys negatively affected visual recognition, short-term memory, and cognitive skills. Studies of humans suggest similar findings, including learning deficits among children. 

  • Endocrine effects.

     PCBs decrease thyroid hormone levels in both animals and humans. Because thyroid hormones are critical for growth and development, a change in thyroid hormone levels is of great concern.  

  • Reproductive effects.

    Animals exposed to PCBs had serious and long-lasting reproductive effects, such as decreases in fertility, conception, and sperm rates, and longer menstruation. Women occupationally exposed to PCBs and women eating PCB-contaminated fish had shorter gestational periods and their newborns had lower birth weights. Furthermore, PCBs can reach a fetus through the placenta or be transferred to a newborn via breast milk. 

    The effects of PCBs on the male reproductive system remain inconclusive. One study of men occupationally exposed to PCBs indicated no fertility problems, while another showed an association between low sperm count and high levels of PCBs in blood.  

  • Other effects.

    A number of other health effects have been reported among animals and humans exposed to PCBs, including dermal and ocular effects in monkeys and humans, and liver toxicity in rodents. Humans exposed to PCBs also experience high blood pressure and elevated levels of serum triglycerides and serum cholesterol. 

PCBs cause a number of serious health effects. They induce cancer and other noncancerous health effects in animals, affecting their immune, central nervous, endocrine, and reproductive systems. Studies in humans, although inconclusive, tend to support the same evidence. Human health studies indicate that PCBs (a) affect women's reproductive functions;  (b) reach fetuses and newborns through the placenta and breastfeeding; (c) create neurobehavioral and developmental deficits in newborns and children exposed to PCBs in utero; (d) decrease thyroid hormone levels; (e) weaken the immune system, (f) increase cancer risks, such as liver and non-Hodgkin lymphoma; and (g) produce a number of other negative health effects. 

* This information on health effects was compiled from current research on PCBs. Sources include the ATSDR Web site (www.atsdr.cdc.gov), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site (www.epa.gov),Exiting the ATSDR Web Site and www.about.com.Exiting the ATSDR Web Site 

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This page last updated on April 17, 2002
Contact Name: Wilma López/ WLópez@cdc.gov


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