Group wants medical testing

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California
DAILY BULLETIN
Group wants medical testing
Toxicologist says Wyle, property owners should cover medical costs
By Sara A. Carter
March 9, 2004

NORCO - An advisory group wants to start taking blood samples from
residents in the vicinity of Wyle Laboritories, a former weapons and
aerospace testing facility.

State toxicologist Dr. Marilyn Underwood, specializing in investigative
toxicology and the study of disease, spoke at a crowded community
meeting Monday night, saying that medical monitoring is necessary and
that Wyle and CRV Norco Partners should pay for it.

Underwood discussed how cancer causing chemicals used at Wyle
Laboratories may be investigated, tested for, and what the community
needs to do to move forward.

Though Underwood suggested Wyle and CRV Norco Partners, the company that
purchased the property, pay for the testing, Community Advisory Group
members plan to seek grants.

"We do know there is stuff up there," said Jeanne Guertin, chairwoman of
the advisory group. "We have to switch ourselves from the environmental
activists, just looking for chemicals, to action-takers. We need to be
there for the residents and we will."

The group hopes to emulate a study released in 2003 by the Centers for
Disease Control. It was the most detailed assessment of Americans'
exposure to chemicals in the environment through blood and urine
samples.

"This kind of exposure information is essential, it helps us to lay the
critical groundwork for future research in ensuring that exposures to
chemicals in our environment are not at levels that affect our health,"
said CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding.

Similar research is what the advisory group hopes to accomplish with the
neighborhoods surrounding Wyle Labs, Guertin said.

One of the primary concerns for the group is that the study be driven by
science, said LeRae Spera, spokeswoman for the advisory group.

"This is a very serious issue for the community," she said.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~2006755,00.html

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