ATSDR - PCBs in Anniston, Ala.

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ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT
ATSDR Releases Final Health Consultation
On PCBs in Anniston, Ala.

Finds Exposures to PCBs Present a Public Health Hazard

For Immediate Release: July 31, 2003

ATLANTA - The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, today released a final health consultation that investigated public health concerns associated with environmental contaminants in an area of west Anniston, Ala.

The health consultation finds that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in some residential soils present a public health hazard. Additionally, ATSDR concludes that many people in the Anniston area have elevated levels of PCB in their blood. Of 2,712 blood samples reviewed, approximately half had detectable levels of PCBs.

ATSDR recommends that sampling of properties for PCB contamination continue and that rapid clean-up efforts should be continued where needed. Also, ATSDR recommends that health education be conducted to aid the community's understanding of health effects related to PCB exposure and to provide information for exposure prevention.

ATSDR, in consultation with community residents and in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Public Health and Calhoun County Health Department, has proposed to implement a multifaceted health study including a multiyear epidemiologic investigation and a needs assessment of access to health care services in Anniston.

The public health consultation will be available for public review at the following repositories:

Anniston Public Library
108 East 10th St.
Anniston, Ala.

Community Against Pollution
Headquarters
1012 West 15th Street
Anniston, Ala.

Carver Library
722 West 14th St.
Anniston, Ala.

Sweet Valley/Cobbtown Environmental
Justice Task Force
7733 Highway 78 West
Eastaboga, Ala.

Bethel Baptist Church
520 E. 6th St.
Anniston, Ala.

First Missionary Baptist Church
1100 Pine Grove Road
Anniston, Ala.

Mars Hill Baptist Church
1508 W. 6th St.
Anniston, Ala.

Seventeenth Street Baptist Church
801 W. 17th St.
Anniston, Ala.

EPA Community Relations Office
1514 West 10th St.
Anniston, Ala.

Community members seeking information on the procedures or the content of the public health assessment may contact Clem Welsh, environmental health scientist, or PerStephanie Thompson, community involvement specialist, toll free at 1-888-422-8737. Regional Representative Bob Safay also may be contacted at 404-562-1782. Callers should refer to the Anniston PCB site in Anniston, Ala.

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Members of the news media may request an interview with ATSDR staff by calling Elaine McEachern in the ATSDR Office of Policy and External Affairs at 770-488-0700.

Back to ATSDR Home page

Updated by R. Searfoss August 1, 2003
For more information, contact ATSDR at:
770-488-0700 or e-mail (news media)