PCB CONTAMINATION DPH wants Tanapag residents tested

The Department of Public Health has asked the Agency for Toxic Disease Registry to carry out an extensive medical testing in Tanapag amid fears that residents may have been affected by the cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Based on the preliminary review of the people’s medical records in Tanapag, the Commonwealth Health Center has seen an increase in incidence of cancer cases and chromosomal abnormalities among the residents, said DPH Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez.

In a letter to Dr. Henry Falk, ATSDR assistant administrator, the DPH chief requested for medical test on blood, body fats and breast milk to determine whether residents have been exposed to higher levels of PCBs.

Villagomez believes that there is enough information to determine the need for a public health assessment and biological sampling of the people in the community.

In June 1999, Gwendolyn Eng, a representative of ATSDR to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 9, reviewed some of the records concerning the hazardous waste contamination in Tanapag. She also attended the public hearing held last month where the local people pressed for a health evaluation of the residents and an independent testing to find out if the village has indeed been cleared of PCB contamination.

Tanapag, a village located along the northwestern coast of Saipan, has a population of 1,700 people. Health and environmental problems in the village began when an undetermined number of 500-pound ceramic capacitors containing Arochlor 1254 and PCB oil were shipped to Saipan in the ’60s by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Investigation showed that these capacitors were manufactured by Cornell-Dublier Electronics as part of the Defense Department’s Nike-Zeus contract for its ballistic missile early warning system radar installation.

The electrical capacitors found in the village after the war were used as barricades, road blocks for driveways, windbreaks for barbecue sites and headstones. Some capacitors were even found open as phenolic linings were used to decorate rooftops and cemeteries in the village.

PCBs are a group of manufactured organic chemicals that contain 209 individual chlorinated chemicals (known as congeners). They have been used widely as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors and other electrical equipment.

According to ATSDR, people exposed to PCBs in the air for a long time have experienced irritation of the nose, lungs, and skin irritation, such as acne and rashes.

It is not known yet whether PCBs may cause birth defects or reproductive problems in people. Some studies have shown that babies born to women who consumed PCB-contaminated fish had problems with their nervous system at birth. Still, it is not known whether these problems were direct results of exposure to PCBs or other chemicals.

Manufacture of PCBs stopped in the United States in 1977 because of evidence that they build up in the environment and cause harmful effects.

Experiments conducted in animals show that PCBs caused cancer as well as affected their immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems.

Studies in humans have raised further concerns regarding the cancer-causing potential of PCBs.