ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR to Host Public Availability Session October 16, 2006 to Update Anniston Residents on Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Exposure

For Immediate Release: October 10, 2006

ATLANTA – The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will hold a public availability session to provide updated information regarding polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels in 40 adults who lived near the Solutia PCB facility in Anniston, Ala.  The meeting will take place Tuesday October 16, 2006 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Anniston Meeting Center located at 1615 Noble St. (corner of Noble and 17th Street).

In 2000, ATSDR conducted an Exposure Investigation to measure PCB levels in persons living in Anniston, near the Solutia facility. New information allows ATSDR to make an updated assessment of the information collected in that Exposure Investigation. ATSDR will report the updated information at the public availability session.

During the two-hour session, ATSDR experts will be available to speak one-on-one about the agency’s updated report, called a public health consultation, and what it means to persons who lived near the Solutia facility. Community members are invited to stop by any time throughout the session and talk with ATSDR staff.

From 1935 to the late 1970’s PCBs, were used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors, and other electrical equipment. Contamination was later discovered in sediment samples from off-site drainage ditches and in soil samples from private residences east and north of the facility.   

In 2003, an ATSDR health consultation described PCBs present in some residential soils at levels that might pose a potential public health hazard. About half of approximately 2,700 persons who gave a blood sample in the Anniston area had a detectable PCB level.  

For more information, community members may contact Clement Welsh, Environmental Health Scientist, Kris Bisgard, Epidemiologist, Loretta Bush, Community Involvement/ Health Communications Specialist, Paula Peters, Health Education Specialist, Regional Representative, Bob Safay at 1-888-422-8737 or toll-free, at 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636). Please refer to the Anniston, Ala., Health Consultation update.

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.