Letter Health Consultation: Panther Creek Area Arsenic Biomonitoring (also known as Blackbird Mine), Colbalt, Idaho. EPA Facility ID: IDD980725832

摘要

High levels of arsenic have been confirmed in soil and indoor dust in the Panther Creek Area by EPA and ATSDR, beginning in 1997 and resuming recently in early 2008. A previous exposure investigation was completed by ATSDR September 10, 1998 in this same area, but now there are new residents, including a 21-month old child. In May 2008, the contamination was renewed by flooding, resulting in environmental arsenic levels that are higher than they were 10 years ago. Indoor dust levels are a particular concern currently because 9 structures were above the EPA cleanup level (100 mg arsenic/kg dust) based on the 2008 sampling; the range of these 9 structures was 100-680 mg arsenic/kg dust. A few of the residents paid to have their hair tested by a private lab and were concerned about the results because some amount of arsenic was detected in their hair. BCEH explained to these residents that hair analysis captures arsenic that is bound to the surface of the hair in addition to what has passed through the body and is thus a poor indicator of the dose of arsenic getting into the body. BCEH thus recommended urine analysis to assess the arsenic dose entering the body.