ATLANTA- The air monitoring data available for the Midlothian area are suitable for public health evaluations for many pollutants of concern to the community, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) announced in a health consultation released today.

ATSDR released this health consultation for public comment on May 10, 2012. The agency shared with external peer reviewers the comments from the public, ATSDR responses, and the draft health consultation. Comments from the public and external peer reviewers, and ATSDR responses are included in this report.

ATSDR carefully evaluated air data collected since 1981 in Midlothian. The health consultation reports on pollutants (e.g., inorganic pollutants, VOCs, lead, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide), time frames, and locations for which the available data support reaching health conclusions. It also identifies gaps in the data where more information is needed to adequately assess community exposures.

ATSDR found that air monitoring data are available for some, but not all of the pollutants of concern:

• Ambient air monitoring data are available for all criteria pollutants directly emitted by the facilities (lead, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide) except for carbon monoxide.
• For VOCs, ambient air monitoring has been conducted for the subset of pollutants that the facilities have released in greatest quantities.
• Some ambient air monitoring data are available for every inorganic pollutant included in the facilities’ annual emission reports, except for hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and vapor-phase mercury.
• No ambient air monitoring has been conducted for semi-volatile organic compounds, which include dioxins, furans, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

For pollutants with little or no available environmental monitoring data, ATSDR believes it would be useful to model air conditions to determine if additional sampling is necessary.

“We took a very careful look at the available air monitoring data to determine which measurements are and which are not suitable for use in ATSDR health evaluations,” said Jennifer Lyke, regional representative in Dallas, TX. “The data we reviewed provide a foundation for public health evaluations in Midlothian.”

The review of air pollution measurements is the first of a number of ATSDR health consultations that are evaluating Midlothian’s environmental data to address community concerns related to air, soil, water, sediment, health effects and animal issues.

The health consultation is available at www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/midlothian.

For more information, call 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) and request information about the final version of the Midlothian health consultation: Assessing the Adequacy of the Ambient Air Monitoring Database for Evaluating Community Health Concerns.

ATSDR, a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, evaluates the potential for adverse human health effects of exposure to hazardous substances in the environment.