CAJ: About the ATSDR and tackling contamination issues

 

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) was founded in 1983. It was coined at a time when the Times Beach in Missouri was evacuated due to dioxin contamination and the necessity of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was discerned. CDC drew the attention to identified health concerns and paved the way for ATSDR. Today it is one of 11 federal agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services. The headquarter of the agency which employs 300 individuals is situated in Atlanta. ATSDR also cooperates with universities and other departments to achieve their goals.

It is estimated that one quarter of diseases worldwide are caused by environmental factors. Chemical exposures are among the most dangerous influences. Not only may they lead to lead poisoning and asthma, but also cancer and developmental disabilities. The ATSDR plays an important role when it comes to safeguarding communities from chemical exposures. The registry’s main aims include identifying potential exposures, evaluating associated health effects and trying to minimize them. ATSDR scientists are able to model areas to see whether they have been determined at some point in the past, and if so to what extend people living there are exposed to chemicals. This method is referred to as ‘bio monitoring’. Another task the scientists fulfill is to assess emerging contaminants such as perfluoro chemicals. The ATSDR is also responsible to initiate proceedings regarding the evacuation of communities and the decision about the return into the determined area.

ATSDR educates doctors, other health care professionals, and communities about the health effects of hazardous substances and how to lessen their exposure to hazardous substances. It therefore provides educational programs that teach children and parents ways to reduce lead exposure. Moreover, ATSDR conducts and funds studies on hazardous substances and has already published documents referred to as  “toxicological profiles” on many of the hazardous substances most commonly found at Superfund sites.

 

 

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/docs/APHA-ATSDR_book.pdf