Levels of dioxins found at the Picayune Wood Treating Site in Picayune, Miss., might pose a health concern for children and adolescents living near the site says a report by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

In its public health consultation, ATSDR categorized the site as a public health hazard - meaning exposure to high levels of hazardous substances lasting longer than one year could result in harmful health effects. Contaminants of concern at the Picayune Wood Treating Site are pentachlorophenol, arsenic, chromium, semi-volatile organic compounds and dioxins.

The consultation concludes that children and adolescents living near the site might be at an increased risk for developmental and reproductive effects from exposure to dioxins in surface soils and sediments on and around the site or in residential yards and nearby creek beds. People may have been exposed to these chemicals via ingestion, direct skin contact or dust inhalation.

The consultation also finds that children and adolescents exposed to these chemicals in sediment have a low to moderate increased cancer risk. Adults exposed to chemicals in soil are not expected to have an increased cancer risk. However, those adults who lived in the community as children and adolescents might have a low increased cancer risk from exposure to surface soils.

ATSDR recommends:

• Taking measures to reduce or eliminate human exposures to contaminants in surface soils and sediments on and around the site.
• Conducting additional sampling in the area to further define the extent of contamination, with particular focus on areas where exposures to vulnerable populations may occur (daycare centers, schools, nursing homes, etc.).
• Ensuring that fences and other protective barriers are properly maintained to prevent access to areas with contaminated soil and sediment.
• Removing on-site contamination sources that contribute to continued off-site migration of contaminants.

ATSDR also developed a Public Health Action Plan (PHAP) for the Picayune Wood Treating Site and included it in the consultation. The purpose of the PHAP is to ensure that the consultation not only identifies public health hazards, but also provides an action plan to prevent adverse health effects resulting from past, present, and/or future exposures to hazardous substances. Planned activities include:

• ATSDR will coordinate with the appropriate agencies to address community health concerns.
• ATSDR will develop and implement a health education plan for the site. The plan will focus on ways to reduce or eliminate incidental exposures to contaminated soils and sediments.
• ATSDR will evaluate any further data that becomes available about human exposure to contaminants at the site. ATSDR will reevaluate new environmental, toxicological or health outcome data that may determine the need for additional actions at this site.

The consultation can be reviewed at the Margaret Crosby Reed Memorial Library, 900 Goodyear Boulevard in Picayune.

Members of the community who have questions about this health consultation or ATSDR activities at the Picayune Wood Treating Site may contact Management Program Analyst Donna Chaney or Environmental Health Scientist Teresa Foster, toll-free, at 1-888-422-8737. ATSDR Regional Representative Benjamin Moore can also be contacted at 1.800.241.1754 ext.21784.

ATSDR, a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, evaluates the human health effects of exposure to hazardous substances.