ATLANTA - The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has released a draft report of the public health assessment (PHA) the agency completed on the Safety Light Corporation Superfund Site located at 4150-A Old Berwick Road, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. ATSDR does PHAs at a site to find out if people are being exposed to hazardous substances from the site, and if so, whether the exposures are harmful and should be stopped or reduced.

For the Safety Light Site PHA, ATSDR reviewed and analyzed available information including results of testing of soil and water samples from the facility grounds and nearby private wells, as well as air data collected during building demolition. ATSDR's analyses showed that various contaminants were detected in the samples, including radioactive substances, metals, and organic compounds.

One of the contaminants detected was radium, which decays to radon gas. ATSDR determined that radon gas in the buildings formerly occupied on the site was a health hazard to workers during times the facility was operational. ATSDR recommends that people who worked in these buildings consult their doctors, because they may have been exposed to contaminants with the potential to harm their health.

ATSDR's analyses for the other contaminants detected indicated that no negative health effects are expected from exposure to those contaminants, because people were not exposed at levels high enough to be harmful. Therefore, the other contaminants are not a hazard to public health, and no further action is needed concerning those contaminants.

ATSDR will hold a public availability session to meet one-on-one with community members about the findings of the PHA and community members' related health concerns. The session will be held at the Central Columbia Middle School, 4777 Old Berwick Road, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, September 8, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. Interested community members may come by anytime during the 2-hour session to speak privately with an ATSDR representative. No formal presentations will be made, and all discussions will be kept confidential.

The public is also invited to submit written comments on the draft report during the comment period, which runs through October 26, 2009. Written comments should be sent to the ATSDR Records Center, ATTN: Safety Light Corporation NPL Site, 1600 Clifton Rd., NE (MS F-09), Atlanta, GA 30333. Comments also can be submitted by e-mail to ATSDRRecordsCenter@cdc.gov.

The report can be viewed on ATSDR's website at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/pha/safety_light/Safety_Light_Corporation_PC_PHA_08242009.pdf or during normal operating hours at the Bloomsburg Area Public Library at 225 Market Street in Bloomsburg. A copy also can be requested from the ATSDR Records Center.

The report may be revised in the future on the basis of information ATSDR receives during the public comment period. ATSDR then will issue a final PHA with an appendix containing the written public comments and ATSDR's responses.

For more information about the Safety Light Site and the ATSDR PHA for the site, call Paul Charp at 770-488-0723 or CDCInfo at 1-800-CDC-INFO and ask for the Safety Light Corporation Site team.

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. Members of the news media can request an interview by calling the NCEH/ATSDR Health Communication Science Office at 770-488-0700 or e-mailing envhealthmedia@cdc.gov.