The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, today is releasing the final version of its public health assessment (PHA) of the Libby Asbestos National Priorities List (NPL) site in Libby, Mont.

In the document, ATSDR consolidates existing site information from a variety of sources to evaluate the overall public health implications of past and present exposures to asbestos in the community.

The final version contains comments from members of the public who reviewed the draft PHA, along with ATSDR's responses. The document was available for public comment at local repositories and on ATSDR's Web site from Jan. 2 through March 14, 2003. Also, the findings of the PHA were presented to the community at a Libby Community Advisory Group meeting held Feb. 13, 2003.

Conclusions

Among the conclusions ATSDR reached on the basis of the available environmental, health outcome and exposure information, and community input are the following:

• In the past, people in the Libby area were exposed to hazardous levels of asbestos.
• In the Libby area, people have elevated levels of disease and death associated with exposure to asbestos.
• People can still be exposed to hazardous levels of asbestos in areas that have not yet been cleaned by EPA. These levels could be especially hazardous to sensitive populations, including people who have been exposed to asbestos for many years already, smokers and young children.
• The risks from continuing exposure to asbestos in Libby justify the cleanup actions undertaken by EPA.
  

Recommendations

In the PHA, ATSDR makes recommendations to federal and state agencies, including the following:

• Provide ongoing medical testing in Libby to qualified individuals.
• Conduct the needed additional research, in particular: a toxicological investigation of the risks associated with low-level exposure to asbestos, especially the type of asbestos present in Libby; clinical research on treatments for mesothelioma and asbestosis; and epidemiologic studies to better characterize the link between exposure to asbestos and disease.
• Conduct further health education for the community, especially concerning smoking and asbestos.
• Continue to develop a registry to track former workers, their household contacts and residents exposed to asbestos in Libby.
• Continue to provide to the local medical community information on how to diagnose and treat asbestos-related diseases.

The public health assessment may be reviewed at the following repositories:

Lincoln County Library
220 W. 6th Street
Libby

Information Center
501 Mineral Avenue
Libby

Community members seeking information on the procedures or the content of the PHA, or copies of the document, may contact Jill Dyken, ATSDR health assessor, or Maria Teran-Maciver, ATSDR community involvement specialist, in Atlanta, toll free, at 1-888-422-8737. Callers should refer to the Libby Asbestos NPL Site. ATSDR regional representative Dan Strausbaugh also may be contacted in Helena at 406-457-5007.