70 Tanapag residents have high PCB levels

A team of medical doctors will begin today a series of meetings with residents of Tanapag village, including the 70 people who were found to have high levels of polychlorinated biphenyl contamination in their body to discuss the results of the blood test and the overall health evaluation.

According to Dr. Richard Brostrom, assistant head of the medical team, doctors from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will explain to residents the results of the medical tests.

While the U.S. standard considers 200 to 300 parts per billion level of PCB contamination in the body as dangerously high, the results of the medical evaluation among them revealed that their exposure to the toxic chemical is still far lower than that.

Some 1,000 residents from the northern village who had undergone medical evaluation have been informed of their schedule to meet with Dr. Farhana Habib and Dr. Brostrom.

“We expect to finish meeting all the patients in two weeks. Each chart has been reviewed by a physician who also identified other medical problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure,” said Dr. Brostrom.

Clinic hours will begin from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. everyday except today when the clinic will open at 1:00 p.m. Dr. Brostrom asked the residents to be in the clinic on the appointed time so that the doctors can explain to them fully the medical problems which need immediate attention.

Since the processing of blood in some laboratories were delayed, doctors will redraw blood samples from some people for their sugar and potassium level analysis. Dr. Brostrom assured the residents that other blood testing analysis were accurate.

“There’s still so much to be done to analyze the data that we have and to make sure that Tanapag is a healthy place to live,” he said.

The scheduled meeting of the medical team with the residents for the evaluation of the PCB test results have been delayed since the Commonwealth Health Center has to coordinate with ATSDR for the follow-up on the need to send medical doctors on the island and also for the federal government to appropriate the needed funding.

Tanapag residents have criticized the Department of Public Health for the delay in revealing the results of the medical evaluation which they said might jeopardize the health of the people.

Schedule of Clinic Hours

7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day except today. The clinic is open from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. today.

Date Last Name Begins

Monday 11/6 A

Tuesday 11/7 B, C

Wednesday 11/8 D, E, F, G, H

Thursday 11/9 I, J, K (plus blood redraws)

Friday 11/13 L (plus blood redraws)

Monday 11/13 M, N

Tuesday 11/14 O, P, Q (plus blood redraws and make-up)

Wednesday 11/15 R, S

Thursday 11/16 T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

Friday 11/17 (make-up day)

Families may send a parent to pick up children’s and spouse’s results only. Those who have already been contacted for an appointment with ATSDR should come in on the scheduled day regardless of the last name. If you have been contacted for blood redrawing, please report to the clinic on Nov. 9 and 10.