Formed in 1980 under the same legislation that created Superfund, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) plays a major role in assessing potential dangers to the public from exposure to contaminants from hazardous waste sites.
As the lead agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for implementing the health-related provisions of Superfund, ATSDR's mandate is to assess the presence and nature of health hazards at specific Superfund sites, to help prevent or reduce further exposure and the illnesses that result from such exposures, and to expand the knowledge base about toxic substances and their health effects.
The agency has three primary goals: 1) Identify people at risk because of their exposure to hazardous substances in the environment; 2) evaluate relationships between hazardous substances in the environment and adverse effects on human health; 3) intervene to eliminate exposures of concern to health and prevent or mitigate health effects related to hazardous substances in the environment.
To accomplish these goals, ATSDR uses a series of studies to determine potential pathways of exposure and resulting health effects related to any given site. The most common include:
Public Health AssessmentsMandated at all National Priorities List sites, these are an integrated evaluation of environmental contamination data, community health concerns and health data. The purpose of the health assessment is to identify hazards posed by hazardous waste sites and affected communities for which public health actions are necessary.
Health ConsultationAn ATSDR health consultation provides advice on a specific public health issue related to a real or possible human health exposure to toxic material. Anyone can request a health consultation, but ATSDR receives the most requests from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state and local health and environmental departments. A health consultation is currently under way at BNL, one of about 1,000 such studies done across the nation each year (see related story, this page). Once completed, these studies become public documents and include a public comment period.
Health Study-An in-depth research effort to determine whether known exposures have affected public health. Health studies can be divided into two basic types; those that are primarily exploratory in their approach (Type-1 studies), and those that use rigorous scientific methods to evaluate specific exposure-outcome relationships (Type-2 studies). Specific guidance and criteria are provided to determine when to do a health study, to determine what type of study to do, and to ensure that a study is of high quality. Health studies are not conducted at every site.
Public Health Advisories-Public health advisories are notices from the ATSDR to the EPA. They are only generated when sites pose an immediate and significant threat to people.
In order to prevent or mitigate exposures, a public health consultation may lead to ATSDR recommendations for specific actions, such as restricting use of or replacing water supplies; intensifying environmental sampling; restricting site access; or removing the contaminated material. In addition, consultations may recommend conducting health studies or providing health education for community members and health care providers.
In addition to these studies, ATSDR maintains several databases of information on toxic substances and releases that are available to the general public.
Accessible through the agency's web page at http://www.atsdr1.atsdr.cdc.gov:8080/, these include HazDat (provides access to information on the release of hazardous substances from Superfund sites or emergency events), Tox FAQs, (short, easy-to-read summaries about hazardous substances, excerpted from ATSDR Toxicological Profiles), and CLUSTER Version 3.1 (DOS software designed to help researchers determine if a disease cluster has occurred other than by random phenomena).
For more information about ATSDR, call: 404-639-6000.