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  1. ATSDR > Public Health Assessments & Consultations

PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT

Saipan Capacitors
(a/k/a Tanapag Village (Saipan))
Tanapag Village, Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Island
EPA Facility ID: MPD982524506

August 31, 2004

Prepared by:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Health Assessment and Consultation
Atlanta, Georgia




TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables

List of Figures

Acronyms

  1. Summary


  2. Public Health Issues


  3. Background

    Where is Tanapag Village

    Who lives in Tanapag Village?

    What are PCBs?

    What are health concerns of exposure?

    When and how did PCBs come to Tanapag Village

    How did the PCBs spread throughout Tanapag Village?

    What has been done to understand PCB contamination in Tanapag Village, and what has been done to remove contamination?

    How is ATSDR involved in Tanapag Village?


  4. Data Sources and Quality Assurance


  5. Nature and Extent of Environmental PCB Contamination

    What were the results of the investigations conducted to understand PCB contamination at Tanapag Village?

    In addition to the investigations of PCBs, what are the results of investigations at the former Tanapag Fuel Farm and the Former Tanapag Military Disposal Site?


  6. Potential Exposure Situations

    What is meant by exposure?

    How does ATSDR determine which exposure situations to evaluate?

    If someone is exposed, will they get sick?

    Who was/is exposed to PCBs in Tanapag Village?

    When did exposures begin? What is the exposure duration?

    How often were/are people exposed?

    How could people be exposed to PCBs in surface soil?

    How could people be exposed to PCBs in locally harvested foods?

    How could people be exposed to PCBs in surface water and sediment?

    How could people be exposed to PCBs in groundwater?


  7. Evaluation of Pubic Health Impact of PCB Contamination

    Introduction

    Medical Screening and Clinical Evaluation of PCB Exposure

    Collection and Analysis of Blood Serum

    Exposure History Collection and Evaluation

    Public health implications of land crab contamination


  8. Community Concerns

    How long ago did you have to be exposed for PCBs to show up in blood, tissue or breast milk?

    If blood results are out of the normal range, is it safe to breast feed my baby?

    If blood results are out of the normal range, is it safe to have children?

    If blood results are out of the normal range, should breast milk or fat tissue be sampled?

    Is there treatment available for PCB exposure?

    If my children play outside, will they get sick from PCB exposure?

    Is it safe to visit the cemetery?

    Is it safe to eat fish and crabs?

    Are foods like taro and yam safe to eat?


  9. ATSDR's Child Health Initiative


  10. Conclusions


  11. Recommendations


  12. Public Health Action Plan

    1. Completed Actions


    2. Recommended Actions


    13. Report Authors

  13. References


  14. Appendices

    1. Tables and Figures


    2. ATSDR Activity Time line


    3. ATSDR Glossary of Environmental Health Terms


    4. Oral bioavailability of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) residues in soil


    5. Exposure history survey form


    6. Data Analysis Methods for Exposure History Survey


    7. Health consultation: Evaluation of Land Crab Contamination, July 2001


    8. Response to Public Comments
  1. List of Tables

    Table 1. Surface soil sampling for PCB in Cemetery 1 area.

    Table 2. Surface soil sampling for PCB in Community Church area.

    Table 3. Surface soil sampling for PCB in Tanapag Beach area.

    Table 4. Surface soil sampling for PCB in Cemetery 2 area.

    Table 5. Surface soil sampling for PCB in Other Tanapag Village areas.

    Table 6. Biota sampling results.

    Table 7. Exposure situations and pathways summary.

    Table 8. Serum PCB distribution by consumption of land crab caught in Tanapag.

    Table 9. Relative risk of having detectable serum PCB concentrations ( 5 ppb) for those reporting past contact with capacitors, capacitor oils, or contaminated soil.

    Table 10. Comparison of total vs. congener-specific serum PCB sampling results.


  2. List of Figures

    Figure 1. Saipan location map

    Figure 2. Tanapag location map

    Figure 3. EPA Multi-matrix sampling survey map: PCB Sample Locations - May 2000

    Figure 4. Tons of PCB-Contaminated Soil Removed from Tanapag Village, Saipan

    Figure 5. Maximum Pre-excavation PCB Concentrations in Surface Soil, Tanapag Village, Saipan

    Figure 6. Distribution of Serum PCB Concentrations Among Tanapag residents, May 2000

    Figure 7. Average Serum PCB Levels in Tanapag Residents by Age and Gender

    Figure 8. Lipid Corrected Serum PCB Comparison

    Figure 9. Landcrab Sampling Locations (December 2000)


Acronyms
ACOE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
ATSDR Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
CNMI Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands
DEQ Department of Environmental Quality
DERP-FUDS Defense Environmental Restoration Program - Formerly Used Defense Sites
DOD Department of Defense
DPH Department of Public Health
DPW-LBY Department of Pubic Works-Lower Base Yard
EI Exposure Investigation
EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
NACCHO National Association of State and Territorial Health Officialsy
NCEH National Center for Environmental Health
PCB Polychlorinated biphenyl
PHA Public Health Assessment
ppb parts per billion
ppm parts per million
RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
SVOC Semi-volatile organic compound
TSDF Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facility






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