"No strong evidence" PCP damages genes

* No surprise this article was released the day after this event see {here}
     "Wood mill workers claim victory" dated 23rd June 2010

Thursday June 24, 2010 NZPA

Health officials say researchers may look at developing a way to assess the inter-generational impacts of pentachlorophenol (PCP) on the children and grandchildren of timber workers exposed to the preservative.

But the Health Ministry's environmental health protection manager Sally Gilbert has already said there is not sufficient justification for funding serum dioxin tests or other tests to determine damage to DNA.*1

She said yesterday blood tests for dioxin only showed a person had been exposed, and there was "no strong evidence" to suggest that PCP caused genetic damage.*2 

A consultant who has worked closely with the ministry and a timber workers' lobby, Matt Allen of Allen and Clarke, said that issues such as whether geneticists will work with epidemiologists and toxicologists on a study of effect on workers' children and grandchildren will have to be decided by scientists who designed the study - if there was one.*3

He expected the consideration of such a study and who took part would be a parallel process alongside the set up of a health support service to provide workers exposed to the chemical with free annual health checks. Plans for the checks, information, and advice were announced to 200 workers at Whakatane yesterday.

Sawmill workers who were exposed to the chemical during the 30 years it was commonly used to stop fungal sapstain in timber have complained that family members suffered a high rate of birth defects such as cleft palates, extra toes, cognitive problems, club feet and, in one case, a baby born with its internal organs outside its body.

The ministry said yesterday that if a "robust" research methodology could be found for impacts of PCP on descendants of sawmill workers "a proposal for funding could then be advanced via the usual research funding processes".

In 2001 the government gave nuclear test veterans $100,000 which they used to fund an intensive chromosomal study at Massey University, where Professor Al Rowland used gene analysis techniques to show that New Zealand sailors suffered genetic damage from their exposure to radiation during nuclear tests 50 years earlier in the Pacific.

Rowland then used a similar approach to show increased rates of genetic damage in Vietnam War veterans exposed to dioxins and their breakdown products, by investigating damage to their chromosomes.

Green Party spokeswoman Catherine Delahunty said the health care package must provide funding for a investigation of inter-generational effects.

The sawmill workers had been exposed to high levels of dioxin, the same as "Agent Orange" victims among Vietnam veterans, and "they should at least get the same level of support".*4

About 200 workers are known to have developed chronic illnesses after inhaling dioxins from PCP used between the 1950s and late 1980s.

One study showed some workers had high rates of cancer, diabetes, kidney, liver and heart failure. There was a 40% increase in the risk of cancer in sawmill workers exposed to PCP compared with those who were not, and they also had a 200% to 300% increase in deaths from chronic non-cancerous respiratory disease.

The ministry said PCP was associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and soft tissue sarcoma but dioxins appeared to act more as a cancer promoter than to actually trigger cancer.*1/2

Original Source

THE TRUTH from a REAL EXPERT!


Dr Linda Birnbaum on April 19, 2004. At the time she was Director of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Environment Toxicology Division. In 2010 she became Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

* Blog opinion: 

*1 The NZ Government truly do not want to know the truth that's why they defer to advise from IOM instead of the organisations the really do know and say exactly what effects these dioxins have on humans.  

*2 Generational effects is also documented well with these qualified reference points unlike IOM, only the blind and fool would say otherwise. 

*3 Government Spin Doctors

*4 The Green Party have always said a lot yet to this day delivered no substantial result to sufferes of dioxin exspo

** 'This is all about' ** 

"HIP POCKET VISION" 

'affordability of the TRUTH'

Wood mill workers claim victory

*Maybe Moral Only
Wednesday June 23, 2010

play video news here

Former Whakatane wood mill workers have won a hard fought victory in their battle to get health support after years of exposure to poisons.

The workers claim they have suffered serious health problems from working with carcinogenic timber treatment chemicals, including the timber preservative PCP.

The Ministry of Health told a meeting of 200 workers that it is setting up a special support service for the ex-mill hands which will include free health checks and counselling.

They were also told they will be given access to health promotions to reduce risks, such as cancer, and mental health services.

Mala Palai

Many of the men still suffering consider it just a start, after having their complaints ignored for years, with former mill worker, Mala Palai, saying real change will be more difficult to come by.

"I'm still fighting, that's why I'm happy to come along and listen to this. (It) may be something new, but I can't see any change," he says.

The cost of the health support work will depend on how many people take it up, but consultants have estimated between $400,000-$1.3 million over two years.

A lobby group, Sawmill Workers Against Poisons (SWAP), has been fighting for help for nearly 30 years, and workers have complained of high rates of cancer, diabetes, and kidney, liver and heart failure.

Around 200 workers at the Whakatane wood mill developed chronic illnesses and psychological problems after inhaling dioxins from the anti-fungal timber treatment PCP between the 1950s and 1980s.

They were so unaware of the dangers they often used log splinters as toothpicks and sawdust from the mill in their fish smokers and gardens.

Research from Massey University showed higher levels of cancer and lung disease than normal in the former workers, and according to researcher David McLean, the increase was significant.

"We did find that they had more cancer - they had something like 50% more cancer than you'd expect from a population of that size and age," he says.

Another study found a 40% increase in the risk of cancer in sawmill workers exposed to PCP compared with those who were not, and a 200% to 300% increase in deaths from chronic non-cancerous respiratory disease in PCP-exposed workers.

The Ministry says it does not know much about the long-term health effects associated with exposure to PCP*1 , but it is a possible human carcinogen associated with non-hodgkin's lymphoma and soft tissue sarcoma.

Dioxins appear to act more as a cancer promoter than as a cancer initiator, and do not appear to be directly toxic to genes.

About 10% of workers who had relatively high levels of dioxin in their blood worked in the industry for 10 years or more, or did high-risk jobs such as cleaning out PCP containers.

The highest dioxin level recorded in the 2007 study was in a former worker who had the equivalent of 90.2 parts per trillion (ppt) - suggesting it would have been as high as 360-720ppt 20 years earlier - and such workers are three times more likely to have respiratory disease.

People with more PCP exposure also reported increased prevalence of a number of other health conditions, including eczema, thyroid disorders, unexplained persistent fevers, recurrent nausea and diarrhoea, heart palpitations and low libido.

An initial compensation package offer was turned down by workers this year, and there was no announcement of compensation today.

People who worked for at least a year in a sawmill where PCP was used and came into contact with wet PCP will get the health support, but no faster access to treatment than other New Zealander's with the same needs.

The report does not support former sawmill workers getting faster access to treatment services than other New Zealander's who might have the same needs.

The Ministry said there was insufficient evidence to suggest that the workers' children or grandchildren will suffer health effects*2 , but research will now be carried out to determine the validity of the claim.

Original Source

* Blog opinion: 

*1 The NZ Government truly do not want to know the truth that's why they defer to advise from IOM instead of the organisations the really do know and say exactly what effects these dioxins have on humans.  

*2 Generational effects is also documented well with these qualified reference points unlike IOM, only the blind and fool would say otherwise. 

** 'This is all about' ** 

"HIP POCKET VISION" 

'affordability of the TRUTH'

Evidence suggests residents misled over exposure

ANGRY: New Plymouth Dioxin campaigner
Andrew Gibbs outside the
Dow Agrosciences factory in Paritutu.

BY KIRSTY JOHNSTON 27/05/2010

Paritutu residents may have been misled about the amount of dioxin they were exposed to from the Ivon Watkins-Dow plant during the 1970s.

Evidence has been uncovered showing at least one participant from the Ministry of Health's 2005 dioxin serum study provided scientists with incorrect information.

Dioxin campaigners say this casts further doubts on the study and its conclusions.

Most importantly, they say, it could mean that those who lived in Paritutu in the 1970s were exposed to lower levels of the cancer-causing chemical than previously thought.

However, the ESR scientist who led the study is adamant the new findings do not change any of his original conclusions.

Jeff Fowles' team found evidence of exposure to dioxins for people who lived close to the agrochemical plant between 1962 and 1987.

On average, residents had four times more dioxin in their blood than other New Zealanders, and in some case up to seven times as much.

The latest information shows, however, it may only be those living in Paritutu during the 1960s who had such elevated levels.

The findings come from New Plymouth dioxin campaigner Andrew Gibbs, who was approached by a participant's family with concerns about the study.

They show one of the study's 52 participants had lived in Paritutu for three years during the early 1960s – not just in the 1970s and 80s as listed previously.

Although Mr Gibbs and another independent reviewer, John Leonard, raised concerns about this particular participant before, there has been no proof until now of their allegations.

Mr Gibbs says the new evidence – in the form of legal documents such as title certificates– shows the participant was placed in the wrong residency group and the findings for that post-1969 group of participants is skewed by that inclusion.

The error needed to be corrected, Mr Gibbs said, because that participant had the only significant levels of dioxin exposure of any of the post-1969 participants. "By including that participant in the post-1969 group, the average level of dioxin for those participants was elevated by 40 per cent," Mr Gibbs said. "This proves what we've always said – the main period of exposure was in the 1960s. By skewing this exposure data they have steered away from that critical time," he said. "No one ever checked out this error, even though we pointed it out at least three times before."

But Dr Fowles says the participant in question had long been known as an anomaly in the results and that had been investigated. "This was taken into account in all analyses we have done since the 2005 report. In fact, we have done all our time-period calculations, and based conclusions with and without [that participant] included," he said.

"This assures that this participant did not critically influence the overall conclusions."

Dr Fowles said any revisions made by participants to their stated residency periods were beyond the research team's control, and were most unfortunate. "I cannot speak for ESR, but I have not seen conclusive evidence of this 1961-1963 residency period, but even if true, it would amount to at most, a minor adjustment to the findings."

He said the participant in question was not the only reason to consider 1970s exposure to be significant. Others living in Paritutu showed some evidence of exposure.

An ESR spokeswoman said the organisation stood by its report because it was accurate based on the content at the time.

The study has already been peer-reviewed twice and minor changes made.

Original Source

Deadly Chemicals Decades After War

Vietnamese Still Exposed to Deadly Chemicals Decades After War
By Jim Stevenson
September 04, 2010

* Dioxin in a Drum (2,4,5 T + 2,4 D) = AO

The United States ended its involvement in the Vietnam War 35 years ago, and established diplomatic relations with Hanoi 15 years ago.  But a recent visit to Vietnam by members of the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange and Dioxin saw the lingering effects of highly toxic chemicals used by U.S. forces to remove dense vegetation in a bid to flush out enemy combatants.

Agent Orange is the code name for one of the chemicals used by the U.S. Military during the Vietnam War.   Agent Orange was given its name from the color of the large orange-striped barrels in which it was shipped.  An estimated 45 million liters of Agent Orange were sprayed over parts of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Among the U.S. inter-faith delegation which recently returned from Vietnam was Rabbi Steve Gutow, the president and CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.  "The damage from Agent Orange (and) dioxin was difficult to look at, to feel," he said.  "And to know that we in some way contributed to this was very hard to take away.  As a person who thinks America is as great a country as we have in the world, it just really upset me."

The U.S. Congress appropriated $3 million for fiscal 2007 and again for fiscal 2009 and 2010 for Agent Orange/dioxin work in Vietnam.  Financial support is also coming from the Ford and other U.S. foundations, UN agencies and other governments. Some $30 million has been mobilized so far.

But Reverend Caroll Baltimore Sr., president of the progressive National Baptist Convention Inc., said more needs to done.  "The damage is long term.  And the hot spots are overwhelming even to the point in Da Nang for example where the land is still bare and baron, where no vegetation grows."

Sister Maureen Fielder also found the situation to be surprisingly bad after more than three decades.  "The most poignant place was Da Nang, the Air Force base in Da Nang where we had stored and spilled so much of this poison," she said.  "And what amazed me was that after 35 years you could still smell the stuff.  It was so strong and so toxic."

The Vietnamese government and an independent expert firm, Hatfield Consulting of North Vancouver, Canada, conducted a series of independent assessments of dioxin residues in the environment around the Da Nang airport and in the blood and breast milk of current area residents. The results provided a clearer understanding of the problem in Da Nang, where the feasibility of bio-remediation efforts is being tested.

Rabbi Gutow did not need a study to realize the scope of the issue.  "There was nothing harsher than Da Nang airport.  We had to buy those shoes.  We tried to make a joke of it where you buy these shoes you had to throw away.  Because when you walked there you knew what we had left there under this concrete slab still had the capacity to hurt people and kill people.  And we as a country have not stepped up to the plate and taken care of it."

Findings in of follow-up studies in 2009 indicated that the 2007 interim mitigation measures had succeeded in reducing dioxin exposure of people in the area.  But the damage was evident to members of the inter-faith delegation as they saw Vietnamese children coping with physical hardships and deformities.

"This is one of the truly insidious effects of Agent Orange and dioxin.  It gets passed on in the genetics of reproduction.  And we have no idea how many generations might be affected by this," said Sister Maureen Fielder.

"In no individual case can anyone definitively connect Agent Orange with a specific disability," she said  "None the less the connection is there certainly by correlation.  Because the children that are disabled are overwhelmingly in the areas sprayed by Agent Orange and dioxin."

The idea for a citizen-to-citizen dialogue on Agent Orange was first explored in 2006 by the Ford

Foundation.  The dialogue, which is not an implementing agency or a fundraising organization, was formally established in February 2007 as an initiative of prominent private citizens, scientists and policy-makers on both sides, working on issues that the two countries' governments have found.

Key: 
* indicates comments made by Dioxinnz blog editor

Original Source

Agent Orange Ailments

VA Expands List Of Agent Orange Ailments
by ROSE HOBAN
September 16, 2010

In this May 1966 file photo, U.S. Air Force planes spray 

the defoliant chemical Agent Orange over dense vege-

tation in South Vietnam. The Department of Veterans 

Affairs recently announced new guidelines  that would 

cover exposed veterans for additional diseases, including 

Parkinson's, ischemic heart disease and a form of leukemia.

Thirty-five years after the end of the Vietnam War, many veterans of that conflict are still battling for compensation for diseases they believe are related to Agent Orange, a defoliant that includes several kinds of dioxins.

The Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced new guidelines that would cover exposed veterans for some additional diseases. But the announcement has drawn criticism.

Vietnam veteran Don Wade used to spend his free time building electronics equipment. The results of his hobby line the walls of the den of his home in Raleigh, N.C. But about a decade ago, Wade, who still looks fit and trim at 61, noticed he had more trouble soldering the tiny electronics. His hand had developed a minor tremor, which has only become worse.

"If I take my medication, I'm good for about a half-hour," he says. "My rigidity is, you know, it's like a glove on your hand. And when I walk, it's like somebody walking in 3 feet of water, 2 feet of sand."

Wade was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2003. He is being treated at the VA Hospital in Durham, N.C., and is happy with the care. But he has never been happy that the VA denied his claim that the Parkinson's resulted from Agent Orange exposure while he was a Marine in Vietnam.

"Basically our job was to unload stuff. One of the items was the 55-gallon drums of Agent Orange," he says. "At that time, I had no inclination that what was being spilled was to some degree toxic."

So Wade welcomed the VA's announcement that it would begin approving compensation claims for Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease and a form of leukemia. Under an existing 1991 federal law, the VA already compensates for treatment for many diseases, including type-2 diabetes.

Wade says the hospital was abuzz with the news.

"There were about five people that came up: 'Did you hear about the VA?' "

Wade knows he came into contact with Agent Orange, but for many vets the connection isn't as clear.

"There is no possibility of proving on an individual basis what the exposure was," says Trude Bennett, a public health researcher at the University of North Carolina who studies dioxin exposure. "Even if you could measure the body burden of the chemicals in someone's body now, it would have dissipated from the time of the original exposure.

"So there's also no way to prove with absolute certainty a causal effect between the exposure and the medical condition."

The VA estimates the tab for treating these newly added diseases at about $40 billion over the next decade.

"We are in a very bad time economically, so suddenly there's been tremendous resistance to implementing this process," he says.

The new VA rules need congressional approval, but some members of Congress have balked at the price and the spiraling costs of disability claims stemming from Agent Orange. Many vets and their advocates, though, see paying for their health care as part of the cost of war.

Congress has until the end of October to decide whether the new rules will stand and whether Wade and thousands of other veterans will have their treatment covered by the VA.

Original Source