The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) began offering medical evaluations in October to former workers of the Stauffer Chemical Co. in Tarpon Springs, Fla. Only five weeks remain in the testing period, and the federal public health agency encourages eligible workers to take advantage of this free evaluation, which will end on Jan. 31, 2005. The medical evaluation includes a physical exam, a lung function test, chest x-rays and an exit consultation with a doctor.

People who worked five or more years in phosphate ore processing or elemental phosphorus production at the Tarpon Springs plant are eligible for the medical testing. According to Stauffer Chemical Co. records, about 230 people are eligible for the medical evaluation. To date, ATSDR has completed 22 evaluations. The testing is voluntary and ATSDR will pay for this one-time evaluation.

The medical evaluations are being conducted at Occupational Health Service of Helen Ellis Clinic, 2280 U.S. Highway 19, Holiday, Fla. Testing will be offered on Tuesday of each week, and an appointment is necessary.

ATSDR mailed a letter of invitation to eligible former workers in September 2004. The agency was not able to obtain current addresses for all eligible former Stauffer workers. Therefore, ATSDR encourages those eligible former workers who have not participated in the evaluation to contact ATSDR Project Coordinator Steve Inserra toll-free at 1-888-422-8737, Ext. 0564 before the Jan. 31, 2005 deadline.

Test results will be kept confidential to the extent allowed by law. ATSDR will share general results at a public meeting and in a summary report when the medical evaluation project is completed.

Stauffer Chemical Co. produced elemental phosphorus at the Tarpon Springs plant from
1947 through 1981. On the basis of ATSDR's review of occupational exposure data from the Tarpon Springs plant, the agency concluded that some former Stauffer workers were exposed in the workplace to respiratory irritants and toxic substances at levels that could cause breathing problems. As a result of these findings, ATSDR is conducting the medical testing for former Stauffer workers.

Former workers and community members seeking information about the worker eligibility requirement for the medical evaluation may call ATSDR Epidemiologist and Project Coordinator Steve Inserra or Community Involvement Specialist LaFreta Dalton toll-free at 1-888-422-8737. ATSDR Regional Representative Carl Blair also may be contacted at 404-562-1786.

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.