DIOXIN ISSUE BRINGS EXPERTS TO RMA

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>]

From: Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>

We reported some time ago that the Colorado Department of Public Health 
and the Environment had found dioxin in birds of prey on the Rocky 
Mountain Arsenal.

Dioxin has always been an area of concern for the citizens on the RMA 
Site Specific Advisory Board (SSAB). Armed with the information from the 
state's study the SSAB held a citizen workshop September 27 & 28. As
stated in October 9th issue of "Defense Environmental Alert":

"...top dioxin scientists aimed at giving an overview of dioxins, and 
"empower[ing] concerned individuals and groups with current technical 
knowledge and available resources," according to a planning guide for 
the workshop. Areas of discussion included how one goes about finding 
dioxin in the environment, if it's suspected at a site. A "big 
question here is how to go about testing" for the substance, which is 
an "extremely difficult thing to do," the SSAB source says.

The panel included Raymond S.H. Yang, Ph.D., professor of Toxicology and 
director of the Center for Environmental Toxicology and Technology, CSU 
Colorado; Dr Arnold Schecter, professor of Preventative Medicine at the 
Health Sciences Center at SUNY-Brighamton, New York and author of 
"Dioxins and Health"; and Richard E. Peterson, PhD., Director of the 
Pharmacology and Toxicology program at the University of Wisconsin, 
Madision and has served on an EPA advisory panel, Health Assessment of 
Dioxin.

Some of the dioxin-related issues the workshop focused on included:

* exposure routes
* effects on wildlife and humans
* relative carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic toxicity levels
* techniques and analytic methods for finding these compounds 
* treatment options
* complexities in evaluating risk

A video tape of this workshop will be forthcoming. We will provide 
ordering information when it becomes available.

This workshop was put together and organized by the citizens of the Rocky 
Mountain Arsenal SSAB with support from the Colorado Department of 
Public Health & Environment. Since the inception of the SSAB, these 
two organizations have been very good example of a successful 
partnering relationship.

Currently, the Fish and Wildlife Service is collecting wildlife samples 
for dioxins and furans. Defense Environmental Alert states:

"Included in the analyses will be eggs collected from American Kestrel 
nestboxes, livers from Great Horned Owls, fat samples from live-trapped 
badgers, and fish eggs. All samples will be taken from both on and off 
the arsenal. The samples will be screened first, and those with 
dioxins and furans present will then be analyzed for specific 
dioxin/furan compunds, and then compared to samples from other 
reference sites in the Denver metro area."

Aimee Houghton