At a public meeting Aug. 23, scientists from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will announce preliminary results of a study of hydrogen sulfide emissions from the Warren Recycling Landfill in Warren, Ohio, and health effects reported by people living and working nearby.

In 2002, several community members living or working near the landfill told ATSDR they experienced breathing difficulties, eye irritation, headache and fatigue.

Last year, ATSDR scientists spent more than a month in Warren collecting data for the study. One hundred seven residents participated in the study.

ATSDR's public meeting is from 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. at the Johnson Community Center, 800 Gilmer Road, Warren. Representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency also will be at the meeting.

In 2003, ATSDR issued a report classifying the Warren Recycling Landfill an "urgent public health hazard." In 2004, the Ohio Department of Health requested the health study.

At very high levels, hydrogen sulfide affects the eyes, lungs and heart. If the level is high enough, a few breaths of it can cause unconsciousness or death.

However, scientists know much less about the health effects of long-term exposures to lower hydrogen sulfide levels such as those found in Warren. These exposures may result in shortness of breath, eye irritation, fatigue, loss of appetite, headaches, irritability, poor memory and dizziness.

To help collect data for the 30-day study, the 107 community volunteers filled out daily diaries about their health symptoms and unpleasant odors. Some also wore a badge that measured hydrogen sulfide in the air around them and used a breathing monitor twice daily. Five participants allowed ATSDR to install monitors measuring hydrogen sulfide in the air outside their homes.

Working from office space donated by Warren Township, ATSDR scientists spent five weeks assisting study participants and monitoring hydrogen sulfide emissions.

For more information about ATSDR's hydrogen sulfide health study in Warren, community members can contact Environmental Health Scientist Lynn Wilder toll-free at 1-888-422-8737. Regional Representative Michelle Colledge also may be contacted at 312-886-1462. Callers should refer to the Warren landfill site in Warren, Ohio.

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.

Established by Congress in 1980 under the Superfund law, ATSDR conducts public health assessments at each of the sites on the EPA National Priorities List, as well as other sites when petitioned. Headquartered in Atlanta, ATSDR is staffed by more than 400 health professionals including epidemiologists, physicians, toxicologists, engineers and public health educators.