The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced today the release of its exposure investigation report for the Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mining Company site in Cripple Creek, Colorado.

In June 2000, ATSDR released a public health assessment for the site. As part of that document, ATSDR assessed the company's Cresson Valley Leach facility, where sodium cyanide solution is used to extract gold from ore. ATSDR noted that if hydrogen cyanide gas was released during that operation, it could migrate off site, exposing residents of the area. ATSDR also noted that no ambient air monitoring data were available to assess the risk associated with potential exposures to hydrogen cyanide emissions from the facility.

The purpose of this exposure investigation was to collect the ambient air monitoring data needed for ATSDR to assess whether residents in the area are being exposed to hydrogen cyanide at levels which could cause human illness.

An exposure investigation is one approach ATSDR uses to develop a better characterization of past, current, and possible future human exposures to hazardous substances in the environment. There are three main ways ATSDR can gather information in an exposure investigation: bio-medical testing (for example, blood or urine samples); environmental testing (for contamination of soil, air, or water); and exposure-dose reconstruction (using environmental sampling data and computer models to estimate past exposures). The results of exposure investigations are used to make public health decisions and to recommend appropriate public health actions.

The exposure investigation report is available for public review at the following repositories:

Community members seeking information on the procedures of the exposure investigation, or the content of report, should contact ATSDR Toxicologist Ken Orloff, toll free, at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737). Callers should refer to the "Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mining Site." ATSDR Senior Regional Representative Glenn Tucker also may be called for information at (303) 312-7010 in Denver.

For more information about hydrogen cyanide and health effects related to exposure, please visit the ATSDR Web site, at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov, and click on the ToxFAQs for Cyanide.