Chemical
Exposure and Health Effects
Are you
able to tell me the potential danger regarding
a chemical substance to which I have been exposed?
Yes. ATSDR's
mission is to prevent exposure and adverse human
health effects and diminished quality of life associated
with expo-
sure to hazardous substances from waste sites,
unplanned re-
leases, and other sources of pollution present
in the environment.
The agency employs personnel with toxicologic,
epidemiologic, and
other specialized expertise who can assess the
hazards posed by
chemical substances.
Is my family, especially my children, in any potential danger
by living near a chemical manufacturing company?
The ability
to answer this question depends on the material released
in the environment, whether people might be exposed
to it, and what
harm exposure can potentially cause. An important
part of deter-
mining whether a hazard exists is to meet with
members of the com-
munity to hear health concerns that may be related
to environmental
exposures. ATSDR has been able to reassure
some communities
that people near chemical plants were not being
exposed to hazard-
ous substances. And, in other cases, after
determining that some
people were being exposed to hazardous substances,
our agency
has been able to advise communities about how to
reduce their
exposure.
What am I required to do when property owners next door, ex-
employers, competitors, etc., have discarded
objectionable waste
on their property that has contaminated the
groundwater and
air? What if reports of alleged illegal
or offensive releases or
dumping have been ignored by local authorities?
Check with
your local authorities (city, county) first. State agencies
are also typically authorized to operate programs
for clean air,
groundwater, and solid waste. Regional EPA offices
will have infor-
mation about current Superfund investigations and
potential new
ones. Contact the regional EPA offices to
report alleged illegal or
offensive releases or dumping in cases where local
authorities or
state agencies have not responded. You can find
web site/contact
information on EPA's regional offices at:
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/locate2.htm.
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Chemical
Information
How can I obtain the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for a
particular compound of interest?
Contact the
product manufacturer for a specific MSDS. Many of
these sheets are also available on the Internet.
Some helpful sites are
the Cornell University Internet web page at:
http://msds.pdc.cornell.edu/msdssrch.asp
and the Vermont
Site at:
http://hazard.com/msds/
What substance
is considered to be the most toxic?
This is a
very difficult, if not impossible, question to answer.
Several factors need to be considered when discussing
toxicity.
These include the route of exposure, i.e., skin,
inhalation, ingestion,
etc., the duration of exposure, how much of the
substance you were
exposed to, and a number of other factors.
ATSDR can provide
you with a list of chemicals most frequently found
at Superfund
sites as well as documents explaining how the ranking
is determined.
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