Star Staff Writer
| Hester isn’t part of any lawsuit, and says she doesn’t care to be. She says she just wants to know whether she or her children have elevated PCB levels in their bodies. Then she could breathe a sigh of relief if the levels are average or below. If they are high, then the knowledge would at least give her the chance to educate herself on the potential health effects and the best ways to prevent or treat them. “I just want to be on the safe side and make sure I don’t have any of that and I don’t want my kids to have any of that,” she said. “I never could get any information. I don’t know what education they can give you on that. I’d like to know what it does to you.” Although Hester is willing to pay for a test herself, she’s had difficulty finding out how to get one. After many phone calls, she asked her daughter’s pediatrician. She was told the doctor does not do PCB tests or write orders to have them done. “As a parent, I believe we can have these tests at any time,” she said. For people who, like Hester, have a reason to suspect they may have been exposed to PCBs, it is possible to be tested in Anniston. But it likely will cost more than $100, require some legwork, and in the end may not add much insight into a person’s current or future health. PCB levels can be measured in blood, body fat, and breast milk. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, most people have low levels of PCBs in their bodies. Tests can show if PCB levels are elevated, but cannot determine when the person was exposed, or for how long, or whether he or she will develop health effects. Most doctors can’t test for PCBs in their offices, but a doctor can write an order for a laboratory to do the test. Local labs such as Lab Corporation of America can perform the blood tests. But local labs would not reveal the cost of the tests or whether insurance would cover them. Local physician Dr. Carla Thomas contacted a lab and was told a PCB test costs $152. She was asked not to reveal which lab gave her that price. The lab told Thomas that 6 parts per billion of PCBs is average, and levels up to 30 are normal. Thomas said she would order a test for a patient who asked, as long as there was a medically justifiable reason for wanting the test. From a medical point of view, a patient would have to have a health problem in which PCBs might be a factor, Thomas said. The patient or their parents or grandparents also would have had to live in an area where there was reason to suspect exposure. Once a person is tested, it’s not easy to translate what the results may mean for his or her health. There is no consensus in the medical community on what health problems PCBs may or may not cause. Dr. Neal Canup, Anniston Family Practice and Residency Clinic medical director and a physician at St. Michael’s Clinic in west Anniston, has been practicing medicine in Anniston for 36 years. Still, he said, he has dealt with PCBs only on a superficial level. Canup said he doesn’t know whether PCBs cause health problems because it’s not in the medical literature. “The only thing we know (chlorinated compounds) cause is a rash,” he said. “I think for the sake of a lot of people, there needs to be some research.” Canup said there hasn’t been enough clinical research to prove a cause and effect relationship between PCBs and some potential health effects identified by academic researchers, such as cancer, liver damage and reproductive problems. For the past two years, local pediatrician Dr. Angela Martin has made it her policy to test every patient who lives in west Anniston or whose parents or grandparents lived in west Anniston. She’s been collecting data on patients’ PCB levels for nine years. Martin said as far as she knows, she’s the only doctor in the area who has been testing and documenting the levels along with patients’ medical histories. Martin estimates she sees about half the children in the west Anniston area. “We are accessible to the community and we want to stay in the community because there’s so much to be learned,” Martin said. She does a lipid profile and tests a child’s PCB, iron and lead levels at ages 1 and 4. Martin said she has taken training with the National Environmental Committee for Pediatricians. When she finds elevated levels of a toxin in a patient she educates them on how to protect their health. In many cases, her patients will not have the resources to move away from the area where they were exposed, so Martin explains how to minimize exposure. Something as simple as planting trees is a good, old-fashioned way to help detoxify the environment, she said. Martin said she hopes eventually the area medical community will work together to research and address the relationship between contaminants and health ailments in the area. “I feel confident in the results that we are getting; however I am gravely concerned because my results show the problem is more widespread than just 36201 (Anniston’s zip code),” Martin said. “That’s really a cause for concern.” Martin said she’s seen multiple instances of some rare syndromes that may or may not be related to PCBs. It’s critical to continue with clinical research, she said, adding she hopes she can contribute to the clinic to be created with money from the Tolbert lawsuit, because she already has collected years of data. Hester might have saved some time if she had known a pediatrician in Anniston was routinely checking patients’ PCB levels. She visited the local Environmental Protection Agency office and called every health and environment group she could think of. The closest she came to getting PCB tests for herself and her children was when she called the lab at Regional Medical Center. The lab could draw the blood for a test, she was told, but she needed a doctor’s order. But when she called her pediatrician’s office, the Medical Center, a nurse told her the doctors no longer would write orders for patients to receive PCB tests. Hester now is waiting for someone to call her with an explanation. Adam Kelley, a spokesman for Children’s Health System, which owns the Medical Center, said he believes there was some confusion having to do with people getting tested for a PCB lawsuit. He said many people were getting orders for the lab tests from the Medical Center, but the office now has received a memo from an attorney asking them not to order any more PCB lab tests. Kelley said he hadn’t seen the memo himself and didn’t know who wrote it. Ed Gentle, claims administrator for the Tolbert settlement fund, said he was not aware of such a memo. He said he would not interfere with anyone’s right to get a test done. Literature on PCBs and the potential health effects can be obtained for no charge at the Anniston/Calhoun County PCB Health Study office at 1200 Noble Street. |
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About Jessica Centers
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Jessica Centers, a University of Missouri graduate, covers business for The Anniston Star. |
| E-mail: |
jcenters@annistonstar.com |