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PCB CONTAMINATION 90 percent of medical results turned over to DPH
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Posted on Aug 03 2000
Ninety percent of the results of the health evaluation conducted among residents of Tanapag in connection with polychlorinated biphenyl contamination in the village have been sent back to the Department of Public Health.
More than 1,000 residents have undergone blood testing to determine the level of PCB contamination in their body. Doctors also conducted a general evaluation of the people’s state of health.
Dr. Richard Brostrom, head of the medical team in Tanapag Clinic, said the results will most probably be discussed with the people who took the PCB testing by October with the expected arrival of additional number of doctors who will assist the public health department.
Until now, the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry has not responded to the request for additional assistance to fund the congener-specific testing that needs to be done on some of the residents who are found to have high levels of PCB. Each type of PCB chemical is called a “congener” and different PCB congeners have very different toxicity in animal studies.
Federal funding is needed since measuring PCB congener in blood is very expensive. Congener testing will cost approximately $200 for each person.
The blood samples for PCB testing are being analyzed by California-based Smith Kline laboratory with the assistance of the National Medical Services Inc. in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Brostrom emphasized the importance of sending some of the samples out to another laboratory for independent analysis and comparison. The medical team has yet to perform “lipid correction”, which will allow them to compare PCB values between different population.
The Tanapag Clinic will be processing the lab test results and put all the relevant medical information in a database. Dr. Brostrom said the next phase of the project, which is to inform the residents of the laboratory results, will be conducted first before sharing it to the public.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region IX is set to release the results of the testing on samples of food and water taken in the village to determine the PCB level.
