Releases of Contaminants from Oak Ridge Facilities and Risks to Public Health; Final Report of the Oak Ridge Health Agreement Steering Panel
- Office of Epidemiologic Studies (ES&H), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
In the early 1990s, concern about the Oak Ridge Reservation's past releases of contaminants to the environment prompted Tennessee's public health officials to pursue an in-depth study of potential off-site health effects at Oak Ridge. This study, the Oak Ridge dose reconstruction, was supported by an agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the State of Tennessee, and was overseen by a 12-member panel appointed by Tennessee's Commissioner of Health. The following report, "Releases of Contaminants from Oak Ridge Facilities and Risks to Public Health," was written by the Oak Ridge Health Agreement Steering Panel (ORHASP) for the following purposes: (1) to explain the components and process of the lengthy, complex study; (2) to summarize important study results in less technical language; and (3) to provide the State with the Panel's recommendations for future actions concerning the Oak Ridge communities.The dose reconstruction process involved the examination of thousands of historical records to obtain information relating to past operations at each facility. It resulted in hundreds of documents being declassified and provided an avenue for a complete public accounting of past practices and releases. Researchers used this information to identify released contaminants of concern, to estimate the quantity and timing of these releases, to evaluate the routes taken by contaminants through the environment to nearby populations, and to estimate the doses and health risks to exposed groups.The results suggest it is likely that some people's risks of developing various types of cancers or other health effects were increased because of the releases. Two groups were most likely to have been harmed: local children drinking milk, in the early 1950's, from a "backyard" cow or goat that had grazed on pastures contaminated with iodine-131, and fetuses carried in the 1950's and early 1960's by women who routinely ate fish taken from nearby creeks and rivers contaminated with mercury and PCBs. More detailed dose and risk estimates, and associated uncertainties, are presented in seven technical reports. One way to easily locate them in OSTI's Information Bridge is by searching the "author field" for the name "Widner," since Mr. T.E. Widner was the principal investigator on this project.
- Research Organization:
- Office of Epidemiologic Studies (ES&H), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environment, Safety and Health (EH)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG-05-91)R21981
- OSTI ID:
- 774582
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/OR/21981-00
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Oak Ridge
dose reconstructionn
health
public
risk
health agreement
contaminant
releases
dose
iodine
mercury
pcbs
radionuclides
uranium
exposure