Massachusetts Personal Injury Library

Neighborhoods Need Better Protection from Toxins

A recent article in the Boston Globe chronicles the progress the Agency for Toxic Substances is making in improving protection of neighborhoods from toxins. The article, describes how the federal agency is working to assess the health risks at Superfund cleanup sites and other hazardous waste locations.

At a Congressional hearing, the agency officials told the representatives that it has had to deal with 200 fewer staff positions and a lack of expertise in some scientific fields like veterinary medicine and meteorology.

The mission of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), as an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is to serve the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and disease related to toxic substances.

ATSDR conducts public health assessments of waste sites, health consultations concerning specific hazardous substances, health surveillance and registries, response to emergency releases of hazardous substances, applied research in support of public health assessments, information development and dissemination, and education and training concerning hazardous substances.

Some scientists and residents of communities with toxic poisoning testified before Congress that ATSDR is failing to address contamination and deformed animals, in pursuing hazardous waste documentation, and test for exposure to depleted uranium.

According to the article, director Frumkin defended his agency’s science but also acknowledged a possibility of some instances where it needed to do more work on the use of data and best monitoring techniques.

The ATSDR officials indicated that more research needs to be done to be able to draw more conclusions about the connection between the toxins and public health concerns, such as neurobehavioral, endocrine, reproductive, and immune effects.

One of the sites being investigated is in Midlothian, Texas, a center for cement manufacturing and chemical emissions. Some people presented videotaped evidence of deformed horses and dogs, although the Agency for Toxic Substances said that the human health hazard there was "indeterminate." Sal Mier, a former federal health official who lives in Midlothian, presented statements from several scientists attacking the agency’s findings.

At Illinois Beach State Park on Lake Michigan, ATSDR says levels of asbestos are not high enough to harm people’s health. Jeffery Camplin, an environmental consultant and critic of government actions there, said the agency produced “outdated, inferior work products.”

ATSDR officials told Congress that they need additional funding and scientific staff positions to be able to analyze the data collected so far on the connection between toxins and the effects on public health.