ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR To Discuss Results of Air Sampling
from William C. Meredith Wood Treatment Facility

For Immediate Release: October 1, 2004

ATLANTA - The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will hold a community meeting on Oct. 12 to discuss findings from air testing and the need for additional testing near the William C. Meredith Wood Treatment facility in East Point, Ga.

ATSDR will offer urine analysis to local residents and conduct additional air sampling. The combined testing will help determine if community members are unusually exposed to pentachlorophenol, a chemical used for treating wood.

The exposure investigation conducted earlier this year analyzed site-specific information to determine whether people have been exposed to hazardous substances. Findings from the investigation concluded that most chemicals associated with the Meredith facility occur at levels too low to cause harmful health effects.

Uncertainty of the frequency and length of the exposure to pentachlorophenol make it difficult to determine if exposure poses a health hazard to residents near the Meredith facility. For this reason the exposure scenario needs to be further investigated.

The community meeting will be held from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at the East Point Auditorium, 2727 Main Street (behind City Hall), East Point, Ga.

For more information, community members can contact Health Communications Specialist Youlanda Outin or Environmental Health Scientist Greg Zarus toll-free, at 1-888-422-8737. Regional Representative Bob Safay also may be contacted at
404-562-1782.

ATSDR, a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, evaluates the human health effects of exposure to hazardous substances.

Established by Congress in 1980 under the Superfund law, ATSDR conducts public health assessments at each of the sites on the EPA National Priorities List, as well as other sites when petitioned. Headquartered in Atlanta, ATSDR is staffed by more than 400 health professionals including epidemiologists, physicians, toxicologists, engineers and public health educators.

###

Members of the news media can request an interview with ATSDR staff by calling the ATSDR Office of Communication at 770-488-0700.