ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR Will Present Dioxin Study Results at Lafayette Public Meeting

For Immediate Release: March 13, 2006

ATSDR staff will be available for media interviews at the meeting location from 5:00 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. on March 16. No appointment is needed.

ATLANTA – The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will host a public meeting in Lafayette on Thursday, March 16, to present the results of its dioxin exposure study in Lafayette and Calcasieu Parishes.

The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Holidome Conference Center, 2032 N.E. Evangline Thruway, 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 dioxin exposure study in Lafayette Parish is part of a larger study conducted in Calcasieu Parish. Researchers needed to compare results of the Calcasieu dioxin study to another group. Lafayette Parish was selected because of demographic similarities to the Calcasieu Parish population.

The results of the dioxin exposure study will be presented at the public meeting. One hundred-twenty people from Lafayette Parish participated in the study.

“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 with ATSDR staff by calling the NCEH/ATSDR Office of Communication at 770-488-0700. No appointment is necessary to attend the media session before the public meeting Mar. 16.