ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR Presents Beryllium Sensitization Test Results
at Nov. 15 Public Meeting in Elmore

For Immediate Release: November 13, 2006

ATLANTA - The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will announce the collective results of its testing for beryllium sensitization at a public meeting in Elmore, Ohio, on Nov. 15. The meeting is 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Elmore Community Center, 410 Clinton St.

Testing results will not be announced before the public meeting.

A public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ATSDR this past summer offered certain people living or working near the Brush Wellman facility in Elmore free blood testing to determine if they are sensitized to beryllium. 

Eighteen persons volunteered for the testing. Those eligible for the testing were:

• residents living within approximately 1 ¼ miles of Brush Wellman facility boundaries;
• workers from local machine shops contracted to machine beryllium alloys, and the worker’s household contacts;
• household contacts of Brush Wellman workers;
• people in the area diagnosed with sarcoidosis, a disease with lung changes that resemble the changes in a lung disease called chronic beryllium disease (CBD).

Beryllium sensitization is a kind of allergic response to beryllium exposure.   People whose immune systems have been sensitized to beryllium are at higher risk for CBD.

ATSDR ‘s public health consultation report in 2002 on the Brush Wellman facility found that releases of beryllium from the plant at that time were not a public health hazard. 

However, ATSDR could not draw conclusions about people's health risks from possible past, short-term beryllium releases. To help community members answer that question, the agency offered the recent beryllium sensitization testing as a public service.

Community members seeking more information should call ATSDR Health Communication Specialist Loretta Bush at 404-498-1742 or Medical Epidemiologist Dr. Dan Middleton at 404-498-0565 between 9:00 a.m. and –5:00 p.m. (Eastern).    

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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.