TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluating the community health legacy of WWI chemical weapons testing
AU - Fox, Mary
AU - Curriero, Frank
AU - Kulbicki, Kathryn
AU - Resnick, Beth
AU - Burke, Thomas
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments This study was funded through a contract with the District of Columbia Department of Health. We thank the other members of the Spring Valley Scoping Study team (Ramya Chari, Eric Janus, Keeve Nachman, Roni Neff, Ana Navas-Acien, Robin Streeter, and Joanna Zablotsky) and the Spring Valley community for their contributions.
PY - 2010/2
Y1 - 2010/2
N2 - Spring Valley, Washington, DC, was built over a World War I chemical weapons development site. Testing activities caused wide dispersal of arsenic in soil and waste disposal resulted in localized subsurface contamination. Spring Valley presents an interesting case study, a contaminated physical environment, but a strongly health-protective social environment. To address a possible "healthy community" bias we selected a nearby comparison community with similar health-protective characteristics. Our study included a community health assessment, a spatial analysis of disease clustering and a chemical hazard assessment. Community health in Spring Valley is good. Rates of major causes of mortality and incidence of selected cancers are 20-70% lower than the nation's. Rates of hypertension and related kidney disease mortality and certain potentially arsenic-related cancers are slightly elevated in Spring Valley over a comparison community. Registry-confirmed cancers are not more likely to cluster in higher contamination areas, odds ratio (95% Confidence Interval) = 0.60 (0.30, 1.11). Chemicals detected in disposal pits are associated with cancer, kidney, neurological and blood effects. In context of a healthy community, the elevated rates of certain mortality and cancer outcomes warrant continued monitoring. Follow-up on kidney, neurological and blood diseases was recommended. Urban environments are complex with close proximity of residents to a wide variety of commercial and government activities, past and present. Each community will have a mix of health-damaging and health protective factors. Our assessment combined descriptive and analytical epidemiology and environmental risk analyses and represents a flexible tool kit adaptable to unique community conditions.
AB - Spring Valley, Washington, DC, was built over a World War I chemical weapons development site. Testing activities caused wide dispersal of arsenic in soil and waste disposal resulted in localized subsurface contamination. Spring Valley presents an interesting case study, a contaminated physical environment, but a strongly health-protective social environment. To address a possible "healthy community" bias we selected a nearby comparison community with similar health-protective characteristics. Our study included a community health assessment, a spatial analysis of disease clustering and a chemical hazard assessment. Community health in Spring Valley is good. Rates of major causes of mortality and incidence of selected cancers are 20-70% lower than the nation's. Rates of hypertension and related kidney disease mortality and certain potentially arsenic-related cancers are slightly elevated in Spring Valley over a comparison community. Registry-confirmed cancers are not more likely to cluster in higher contamination areas, odds ratio (95% Confidence Interval) = 0.60 (0.30, 1.11). Chemicals detected in disposal pits are associated with cancer, kidney, neurological and blood effects. In context of a healthy community, the elevated rates of certain mortality and cancer outcomes warrant continued monitoring. Follow-up on kidney, neurological and blood diseases was recommended. Urban environments are complex with close proximity of residents to a wide variety of commercial and government activities, past and present. Each community will have a mix of health-damaging and health protective factors. Our assessment combined descriptive and analytical epidemiology and environmental risk analyses and represents a flexible tool kit adaptable to unique community conditions.
KW - Community health assessment
KW - Environmental health
KW - Hazard assessment
KW - Urban health
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U2 - 10.1007/s10900-009-9188-y
DO - 10.1007/s10900-009-9188-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 19921536
AN - SCOPUS:76449102302
SN - 0094-5145
VL - 35
SP - 93
EP - 103
JO - Journal of Community Health
JF - Journal of Community Health
IS - 1
ER -