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Potential health impacts of heavy-metal exposure at the Tar Creek Superfund site, Ottawa County, Oklahoma

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Abstract

The potential impact of exposure to heavy metals and health problems was evaluated at the Tar Creek Superfund site, Ottawa County, Oklahoma, USA. Observed versus expected mortality was calculated for selected conditions in the County and exposed cities. Excess mortality was found for stroke and heart disease when comparing the exposed County to the state but not when comparing the exposed cities to the nonexposed rest of the County. However, sample sizes in the exposed area were small, population emigration has been ongoing, and geographic coding of mortality data was incomplete. In an exposed community, 62.5% of children under the age of 6 years had blood lead levels exceeding 10 μg/dl. The relationships between heavy-metal exposure and children’s health and chronic disease in adults are suggestive that a more thorough investigation might be warranted. A number of possible environmental and health studies are suggested, including those focusing on possible central nervous system impacts. Unfortunately, the exposed population is dispersing. One lesson learned at this site is that health studies need to be conducted as soon as possible after an environmental problem is identified to both study the impact of the most acute exposures and to maximize study sample size—including those exposed to higher doses—and minimize the loss of individuals to follow-up.

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Abbreviations

ATSDR:

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

BRFSS:

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey

CDC:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

dL:

Deciliter

EPA:

US Environmental Protection Agency

ICD:

International Statistical Classification of Diseases

mg/kg:

Milligrams per kilogram

OR:

Odds ratio

SEM/EDS:

Scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive spectroscopy

USGS:

US Geological Survey

μg/L:

Micrograms per liter

μm:

Micron or micrometer

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Acknowledgements

The following individuals contributed to this project: Mr. Derek Pate, Dr. Changyong Feng, Ms. Jennifer Lyke, Dr. Gary Lawley, Dr. Robert Lynch, Dr. Leslie Beitsch, Dr. Robert Wright, Dr. Jennifer Lowery, Ms. Susan Waldron, Dr. Mary Jane Calvey, and Mr. Earl Hatley, Tribal Efforts Against Lead (TEAL) and Local Environmental Action Demanded (LEAD) Agency, Inc.

Stanford L. Loeb, Ph.D. of the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, and David C. Bellinger, Ph.D., M.Sc. of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, reviewed earlier drafts of this manuscript. James P. Shine, Ph.D. of the Harvard School of Public Health, and Daniel J. Brabander, Ph.D., of Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, provided electron microscope images of the chat piles.

Previous versions of this study were presented in 2004 at a Metals Research Core seminar at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, and, in 2007 at a meeting of the Society for Environmental Geochemistry and Health in New Orleans, Louisiana.

This project was funded through the LEAD Agency, Inc. by means of US EPA Technical Assistance Grant No. 1-98672301-0. The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the US EPA.

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Correspondence to John S. Neuberger.

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Neuberger, J.S., Hu, S.C., Drake, K.D. et al. Potential health impacts of heavy-metal exposure at the Tar Creek Superfund site, Ottawa County, Oklahoma. Environ Geochem Health 31, 47–59 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-008-9154-0

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