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Fact Sheet

At the request of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, local parents, members of Congress, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) agreed to investigate the prevalence of autism cases in Brick Township and to also determine if there was an environmental explanation.

ATSDR, a federal public health agency that deals with hazardous waste issues related to human health, conducted the investigation which looked for environmental explanations. ATSDR reviewed environmental sampling data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), the Ocean County Health Department (OCHD), and the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority to assess the possibilities of past and current exposure to hazardous substances.

ATSDR has prepared this public health assessment to address hazardous chemicals in the environment for three areas: the municipal drinking water supply, swimming in the Metedeconk River, and the Brick Township landfill. After a thorough examination of data for each of these areas, ATSDR researchers concluded that, while chemicals may have been found, neither children nor pregnant women were exposed to levels which would be likely to cause adverse health effects.

• ATSDR looked at information for the Brick Township municipal drinking water system from 1987 to 1995 and found that, during this period, the water at various times contained several substances, which included tetracholoroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), and trihalomethanes (THMs).
    
  • TCE was found in two wells that supply a small percentage of water to the drinking system; however, it was never detected in water delivered to homes and businesses. Since TCE was not at levels that could be detected in the water distribution system, it would not have been at levels which could cause adverse health effects to children and pregnant women.
  • PCE was also detected in two wells that supply a small percentage of water to the drinking water system. However, water from these two wells was mixed with water from the rest of the system at the treatment plant before it was delivered to homes. This mixing at the treatment plants resulted in a substantial dilution of the PCE. By the time this water reached homes, ATSDR believes the levels were not high enough to cause adverse health effects in children or pregnant women.
  • Total THMs were found in the municipal drinking water supply at levels between 1 and 251 parts per billion (ppb). THM levels for Brick Township water system are fairly typical for similar surface water systems in New Jersey, with the exception of the peak 251 ppb sample. ATSDR reviewed information for the locations and time periods when THM levels were found to be high and compared this with locations and times of the pregnancies for autism cases. Based on this analysis, ATSDR was not able to show a clear pattern between elevated THM levels and the pregnancy period for children in the prevalence study.
      
• ATSDR evaluated information on the Brick Township landfill and found that the groundwater beneath the landfill is contaminated with a variety of hazardous substances. However, ATSDR does not believe that the contaminated groundwater would have affected pregnant women or children near the site, because residents in the area are supplied with water by the municipal water system and would not have been exposed to the groundwater.
    
• ATSDR also evaluated information on the Metedeconk River. ATSDR does not believe that levels of chemicals in the river would have been high enough to cause adverse health effects to children or pregnant women who swam in the river in the past. They believe the continual current and tidal fluctuation of the river would dilute any past chemical releases to the river to trace amounts.

The public health assessment was released on April 18, 2000 for public comment. The public comment period will run from April 18 until May 16, 2000. Comments on the document can be sent to:

Chief, Program Evaluation, Records and Information Services Branch
ATSDR
1600 Clifton Road
Mail Stop E-56
Atlanta, GA 30333

Copies of the document are available for public review at the following repository:

Brick Branch of the Ocean County Library
301 Chambers Bridge Road
Brick, NJ 08723
(732) 477-4513

If you have questions about the public health assessment or would like to obtain a copy, contact Robert Knowles, ATSDR environmental scientist, toll free at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737).

CDC's National Center for Environmental Health has prepared a report of its findings for the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in Brick Township. To obtain a copy of that report, go to the web site at http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dd.  A copy can also be obtained at the Brick Library or by calling the Developmental Disabilities Branch at 1-770-488-7360.

ATSDR reviewed scientific literature dealing with hazardous substance exposure and autism. The results of the literature review were published in a health consultation released for public comment by ATSDR in December 1998. To obtain a copy of that health consultation, contact ATSDR's Information Center, toll free, at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737).

Additional information on the health affects of exposure to Tetrachloroethylene and Trichloroethylene are available at ATSDR’s web site. The address is: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov. Click on ToxFAQs™ and follow the alphabetical listings of substances. For information on Trihalomethanes and other disinfection by-products, you can go to the EPA Envirofacts home page at http://www.epa.gov/enviro.

National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, CDC

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