ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR to Announce Results of Stauffer Site
Environmental Health Investigations at Meetings Dec. 13

For Immediate Release: December 9, 2005

ATLANTA - At duplicate afternoon and evening public availability sessions Dec. 13, scientists from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will announce results of several environmental health investigations of area residents and former workers at the Stauffer Chemical Co. in Tarpon Springs, Fla.

The meetings are at the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center from noon–2 p.m. and 6–8 p.m. ATSDR scientists will present summary information about their latest work followed by the opportunity for persons to talk with scientists one-to-one.

In 2004, ATSDR initiated activities and studies in response to concerns from community members and Cong. Mike Bilirakis following release of an ATSDR public health assessment on the Stauffer Chemical Co. Superfund Site.

In its 2003 public health assessment, ATSDR concluded that some Stauffer workers were exposed on the job to contaminants at levels that might cause adverse health effects. The report can be viewed at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/PHA/StaufferChemicalCompany/StaufferChemical033005-FL-pt1.pdf.

As part of its most recent activities, ATSDR arranged and paid for medical testing for former Stauffer workers. The tests were conducted at a Holiday clinic and consisted of a physical exam, breathing tests, chest x-rays, and consultation with a physician.

Using Stauffer employment records, ATSDR determined four hundred twenty-four former workers were eligible to participate in the medical testing. Thirty-six men volunteered to participate.

ATSDR also conducted a lung and mesothelioma cancer review comparing the number of people diagnosed with cancers who lived near the Stauffer site with all people living in Florida. The cancer records reviewed were those for 2000–2002.

Results of the medical testing and cancer rate comparison will be released to the community Dec. 13. Also released then will be preliminary information about ATSDR’s cause-of-death review for former Stauffer workers.

In its public health assessment, ATSDR said the Stauffer site was not then a public health hazard – nor is it now – because people were not being exposed to site contaminants at harmful levels. The Stauffer Chemical Co. plant ceased operations in 1981. Its buildings and production facilities were dismantled in the early 1990s and early 2000s.

For more information about ATSDR’s follow-up activities in Tarpon Springs, community members can contact Health Communication Specialist LaFreta Dalton toll-free at 1-888-422-8737or Regional Representative Carl Blair at 404-562-1786. Callers should refer to the Stauffer Chemical Co. site in Tarpon Springs.

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.

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