The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has released the public comment version of its public health consultation for the View-Master Factory Supply Well site in Beaverton, Washington County, Ore.

The health consultation was prepared by the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) under a cooperative agreement with ATSDR.

ODHS concludes that the past exposure to TCE through drinking water from the View-Master supply well may have resulted in adverse health effects among former View-Master workers. This conclusion is based on the levels of TCE found in the supply well, the past use of the well as a source of drinking water and the potential for adverse health effects resulting from past exposure to TCE,.

In March 1998, chemical analysis of the View-Master factory supply well revealed the presence of the degreasing agent trichloroethylene (TCE) at concentrations as high as 1,670 micrograms per liter (µg/L). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set 5 µg/L as the safe level for TCE in drinking water.

TCE was used at the View-Master factory for cleaning manufacturing equipment and for degreasing metal parts before they were painted. Drums of degreaser waste were dumped on-site from the 1950s to the 1970s. The factory began recycling the spent solvent in the 1970s and discontinued the use of TCE in 1980.

On the basis of an examination of the hydrology of the site, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) estimates that TCE contaminated the drinking water at the View-Master plant for more than 20 years.

TCE has been shown to cause liver and kidney cancer in experimental animals, and EPA has classified TCE as a probable carcinogen for humans.

For the years 1995-2001, ODHS conducted a preliminary analysis of death data for former View-Master workers. The analysis examined outcomes linked in previous studies to TCE exposure, such as cancers of the liver, pancreas, kidney, blood and lymphatic system. ODHS did observe that, compared with the general Oregon population, the proportions of deaths among the plant workers were two times as great for pancreatic cancer, and nearly three times as great for kidney cancer. There was no evident excess in the proportions of deaths from liver cancer, lymphomas or hematopoietic cancers, Sufficient information is not yet available to accurately evaluate the magnitude of harm, if any, caused by the contamination.

These findings do not conclusively demonstrate whether mortality from TCE-related causes among former View-Master workers is significantly excessive. Such a determination requires statistical adjustments for other risk factors and demographic characteristics, such as age and gender, which are not yet known. ODHS will perform further analyses as more information becomes available. The final results of the mortality analysis will be addressed in a separate report.

In the current health consultation, ODHS recommends more in-depth investigations at the site to confirm ODEQ's estimate of how long TCE was present in the View-Master supply well and to provide a historical understanding of the concentration of TCE in the well. ODHS also recommends an epidemiological study to determine whether former workers have experienced adverse health and reproductive outcomes from TCE exposure.

Written public comments about the health consultation will be accepted by ATSDR until February 28, 2003. Comments should be mailed to:

Chief, Programs, Evaluation, Records and Information Services Branch
Division of Health Assessment and Consultation
ATSDR Mailstop E-32
1600 Clifton Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30333

The health consultation may be reviewed at the following repositories:

Newberg Public Library Multanomah County Central Library
503 E. Hancock St. 801 SW 10th Ave.
Newberg Portland

Albina Library
3605 NE 15th Ave.
Portland

Comments received during the public comment period will be logged into the administrative record of the health consultation. Public comments and ATSDR's responses will be included in an appendix to the final health consultation when it is released. Although the names of those who submit comments will not be included in the final health consultation, the names are subject to release in response to requests made under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

Community members seeking information on the procedures or the content of the public health consultation should contact ODHS Epidemiologist Michele Freeman at 503-731-4025 or ATSDR Community Involvement Specialist Maria Teran-MacIver, toll-free, at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737). ATSDR Regional Representative Ric Robinson also may be contacted in Seattle at 206-553-5114. Callers should say they are say they are phoning about the View-Master site.