Review of the Worker and Public Health Activities Program Administered by the Department of Energy and the Department of Health and Human Services (2006) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 19-35
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 19... ...
Growing public interest regarding exposures at or near nuclear weapons facilities was a major impetus for many of the early epidemiologic studies that examined the health effects of radioactive material exposures of former and current workers and the public living near the nuclear facilities. The "nuclear weapons complex" in the United States resulted in one of the earliest occupational research programs to study and monitor worker exposures to ionizing radiation and radioactive materials at nuclear weapons facilities.
|
From page 20... ...
in ES&H. The OH manages current epidemiologic research and dose reconstruction efforts to understand the health consequences of exposure related to ionizing radiation and selected non-radioactive materials, such as beryllium, that are used in the weapons program.
|
From page 21... ...
These problems coupled with other concerns regarding DOE's handling of its epidemiologic research attracted significant public interest. DOE was criticized for a perceived inherent conflict of interest in the department's role in conducting such studies, particularly those studies designed to evaluate the health effects of exposure to low-dose radiation; the credibility of the program was an issue because a majority of the mortality studies were carried out by DOE contractors closely associated with the production efforts.
|
From page 22... ...
Current Responsibilities Within the Worker and Public Health Activities Program Since 1990, NIOSH, NCEH, and ATSDR have been involved in a wide range of research activities related to assessing occupational and environmental exposures at or near DOE sites, including epidemiological studies of occupationally exposed workers, community assessments of health issues related to exposures at the sites, dose reconstruction to determine retrospective exposures, and dissemination of information to affected communities. DOE and HHS documented their priority research efforts in their public health agenda (Agenda for HHS Public Health Activities [for Fiscal Years 20032008]
|
From page 23... ...
of and w sites t ue DOE actors 1990 merr health DOE SPEERA releases repor recommending that contr contin conduct epidemiologic studies current fo at public orf y of and, is and 1981 vironment, ety Office Assistant Secretar En Saf Health created worker is A the medr 1977 DOE fo from ERD to .
|
From page 24... ...
. NIOSH has been involved primarily in conducting hypothesis-based analytic epidemiology through cohort mortality studies of workers at a number of DOE sites including the Idaho National Laboratory, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Nevada Test Site, the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, the Rocky Flats Plant, the Feed Materials Production Center (Fernald)
|
From page 25... ...
. CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry The ATSDR is congressionally mandated to assess health hazards at specific hazardous waste sites, in particular at Superfund sites, and to increase public knowledge about potential health effects resulting from exposure to hazardous substances at these sites (ATSDR 2006)
|
From page 26... ...
DOE is also interested in the committee's assessment, given sufficient information and time, whether or not the indi vidual agency programs were of the highest quality from the viewpoint of science and public policy. In response to the request, the National Academies established the Committee to Review the Worker and Public Health Activities Program Administered by the Department of Energy and the Health and Human Services, which prepared this report.
|
From page 27... ...
Sampling Strategy In discussing the Statement of Task in the context of the size of the program, the number of DOE nuclear sites and the variety of activities at these various sites, the committee concluded that a comprehensive assessment of the entire program was not possible in the time allotted for this study. Thus there were two options for carrying out this review: (1)
|
From page 28... ...
These topics included, for example, identification of project categories and specific studies funded by DOE and produced by the three HHS agencies, information on the DOE/HHS budgeting processes, procedures used in the establishment of project priorities, and program management processes for the overall program. By using a combination of the sampling strategy for review of site-specific activities along with a review of overall management aspects of the program, the committee concluded that its assessment would be representative of the program activities carried out by HHS.
|
From page 29... ...
This may not be a commentary on DOE specifically, but rather a public distrust of any arrangement in which the primary objective of an operation might be better achieved through a compromise of some of its other objectives, for example, improved productivity at the expense of the health studies of its workers or communities. Thus the committee concluded that a continuing health program should be based on the MOU structure, albeit an improved one.
|
From page 30... ...
ATSDR has supported no extramural work in its studies. As this study got under way, the committee was informed that only a small fraction of the FY 2006 budget requested from DOE by HHS agencies was funded for a continuing health program.
|
From page 31... ...
ANNEX 1A BUDGETARY TABLES TABLE 1A-1 DOE Analytic Epidemiological Studies and FY 1991 Resources Transferred to HHS FY 1991 Year of Expected Funding Contractor Study Update Level ($) Program Title Harvard 1992 $200,000 In vivo mutagenicity and clastogenicity of ionizing radiation HEHFa $383,000 DOE Hanford Health and Mortality Study LANLb 1991-1992 or $700,000 Human Health Effects of Plutonium -- nine open for studies continuing surveillance LLNLc DOE funds Melanoma studies at Lawrence Livermore ORAUd 1991-1993 and $2.8 million Health and Mortality Study of workers at Oak one open case- Ridge, Fernald, Savannah River, Portsmouth, control study Paducah, and Mallinkrodt -- 25 studies OROe 1992 $6.1 million CDC Fernald dose reconstruction PNNLf 1992 $295,000 Statistical health effects -- three studies RLg 1993 $3.65 million Hanford dose reconstruction aHanford Environmental Health Foundation.
|
From page 32... ...
32 Total 26.1 50.4 76.5 42.0 12.0 54.0 80.1 68.1 142.5 210.6 2005 0.9 3.8 4.7 2.1 0.0 2.1 3.8 5.0 7.6 12.6 2004 0.6 4.6 5.2 4.1 0.0 4.1 4.4 4.4 9.0 13.4 2003 1.5 3.6 5.1 3.8 0.0 3.8 4.4 5.4 8.0 13.5 2002 1.2 4.2 5.4 4.0 0.0 4.0 5.4 6.3 9.5 15.9 2001 1.4 4.3 5.7 5.1 0.0 5.1 7.6 6.7 11.9 18.6 2000 1.7 4.8 6.5 5.3 0.0 5.3 8.5 5.5 13.3 18.8 1999 2.6 4.5 7.1 3.8 0.0 3.8 10.6 5.7 15.1 20.8 1998 1.2 3.3 4.5 3.1 0.0 3.1 5.5 3.2 9.3 12.5 1997 3.6 4.0 7.6 2.0 0.5 2.5 3.7 6.1 8.6 14.6 1996 4.3 2.4 6.7 2.5 0.9 3.3 4.4 7.3 6.8 14.1 total. = T Agency 1991.
|
From page 33... ...
Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project.
|
From page 34... ...
Savannah River Site Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project. Phase II: Source Term Calculation and Ingestion Pathway Data Retrieval.
|
From page 35... ...
2005. Atmospheric Source Terms for the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant, 1957-1959.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.