ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR Will Present Dioxin Study Results at Lake Charles Public Meeting

For Immediate Release: March 10, 2006

ATLANTA – The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will host a public meeting in Lake Charles on Wednesday, March 15, to present the results of its Calcasieu Parish dioxin exposure study and the latest Mossville dioxin exposure investigation.

The meeting will be at the Lake Charles Civic Center, Contraband Room, 900 Lakeshore Drive, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Representatives from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality also will be present.

Health effects from environmental exposure to dioxin are not well understood. Research is underway to determine how different levels of dioxin affect the human body.

Most information about dioxin-related illness is from exposure to high levels in the workplace. The level of dioxin to which a worker might be exposed is significantly greater than the amount the public might be exposed to in the environment.

The Mossville exposure investigation is a follow-up investigation to ATSDR’s initial exposure investigation conducted in 1998. Many of the participants tested in 1998 were retested to determine how their blood dioxin levels changed over time.

The parish-wide dioxin exposure study sought to determine the amount of dioxin in people’s bodies by analyzing their blood samples. For comparison, ATSDR conducted the same study in Lafayette Parish. The results of both studies will be presented at the public meeting.

“Dioxin” is the generic name for a group of chemicals including both polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans. Dioxin in very small amounts is found almost everywhere in the environment.

Dioxin is made and released into the environment mostly from burning fuels, wood and waste. For example, small amounts of dioxin are found in truck and car exhaust, and in cigarette smoke. Other common sources are wastes from factories making chlorinated phenols, and the chlorine bleaching process used at pulp and paper mills.

In the environment, dioxin does not easily break down. Dioxin tends to stick tightly to soils and sediment where it can stay for a long time.

Community members who have questions about the upcoming meeting may contact Health Communication Specialist LaFreta Dalton at 1-888-422-8737. Callers should say they are calling about the Mossville or Calcasieu sites.

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 by calling the NCEH/ATSDR Office of Communication at 770-488-0700.