ATSDR will conduct a follow-up dioxin exposure investigation (EI) in Mossville, Louisiana

Calcasieu County, Mossville, Louisiana

Monday, November 26, 2001

What: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department Health and Human Services, will conduct a follow-up dioxin exposure investigation (EI) in Mossville, Louisiana, November 26 - 29, 2001.

The agency's first dioxin EI was completed in 1998. Only individuals who participated in the first investigation and those who had their blood tested for dioxins in 1997 through C.L.E.A.N. may participate in the follow-up.

This investigation is not part of ATSDR's larger, Calcasieu-wide dioxin study that begins next year.

Why: ATSDR wants to determine if blood dioxin levels among EI participants have changed since the 1998 investigation. Researchers also want to discover the participants' current levels of potential dioxin exposure where they live and in the foods they eat.

How: ATSDR investigators will visit participants' homes to collect samples from yards, floor and attic dust, garden root vegetables, tap water, and certain eggs and fish.

Media availability session: ATSDR researchers will be available for interviews on November 27, 2001, from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. at the Rigmaiden Center. No appointment is necessary.

Background: An exposure investigation is one approach ATSDR uses to develop a better characterization of past, current and possible future human exposures to hazardous substances in the environment.

There are three main ways ATSDR gathers information in an exposure investigation: bio-medical testing (for example, blood or urine samples); environmental testing (for contaminated soil, air or water); and exposure-dose reconstruction (using environmental data and computer models to estimate past exposures).

The results of exposure investigations are used to make public health decisions and to recommend appropriate public health actions.

For more Information: Community members seeking information on the procedures of this exposure investigation should contact ATSDR Environmental Health Scientist Lynn Wilder or ATSDR Medical Officer Dr. Ketna Mistry, toll free, at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737). Callers should refer to the "Mossville site." ATSDR Senior Regional Representative George Pettigrew in Dallas also may be called for information at (214) 665-8361.

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