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The Detroit News
February 23, 2008 |
Jim Lynch
Staff Writer |
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Levin calls for release of CDC report
Congressman says Michigan residents should have access to health risk study. |
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U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak, has called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to release a long-delayed report that highlights increased health risks for Michigan residents living in more than a dozen areas.
Levin sent a letter to CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding Thursday expressing his concern over the agency's decision to withhold the report.
"While the study does not claim to substantiate a cause-and-effect relationship the co-occurrence of elevated patterns of disease and environmental contamination raises obvious public health concerns," Levin wrote. "The value of the study is that it underscores a potentially serious health threat and points the way to more detailed epidemiological studies."
The report, titled "Public Health Implications of Hazardous Substances in the Twenty-six U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern" was set to be released in July 2007. However, it was tabled at the last minute and several scientists who reviewed the work have questioned whether politics played a part in that decision.
Researchers collected existing date regarding the health of the population in certain Areas of Concern -- the places where populations lived near 26 known toxic waste sites in the Great Lakes Basin.
The findings indicated that residents in those areas face higher risk of a variety of health threats, including infant mortality rates, low birth weights, breast cancer and colon cancer.
In December, the House Committee on Science and Technology sent Gerberding a letter of its own requesting records on the report that were never delivered.
Several independent scientists who performed peer review work on the report said they feel it was withheld because it raised serious questions about the links between industrial pollution and health problems among nearby human populations.
A CDC spokeswoman said the data sets used in the report were drawn from different time periods. County-level illness data came from 1988-99, toxic release inventory data came from 2000 and national pollutant discharge data came from 2004.
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To Contact Congressman Levin: -
Email Congressman Levin In Michigan: 27085 Gratiot Ave, Roseville, MI 48066 | (586) 498-7122 | (248) 968-2025
In Washington: 1236 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 | (202) 225-4961
