Savannah River Site Health Effects Subcommittee (SRSHES) Meeting

Final Meeting Minutes
January 10, 2002

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A lung cancer case control study is being conducted at SRS, Hanford, the Oak Ridge X10 facility and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The study participants are limited to reactor operators who would have primarily encountered external radiation exposures, but had minimal opportunities for exposures from chemical processing activities, internal radionuclide depositions and other sources. Investigators are currently developing the study roster, coding dosimetry data and assessing the availability of smoking and asbestos exposure data. NIOSH will submit the SRS roster to the National Death Index File and Social Security to determine the vital status of all workers in the study.

A cohort mortality study is being conducted at SRS and Oak Ridge to evaluate causespecific mortality among Department of Energy (DOE) chemical laboratory workers; identify differences in mortality between the cohort and the U.S. population; and analyze dose-response relationships between cancer mortality and exposures to the cohort. Study participants include workers who were employed at least one day between January 1, 1943 and December 31, 1984; vital statistics will be analyzed through 1985. Personnel shortages resulted in significant delays in FY’01, but progress has been made in data collection efforts at Oak Ridge. In FY’02, NIOSH will continue data management activities at SRS and analyze the Oak Ridge mortality data. A draft report of the Oak Ridge findings is expected to be developed later in the year, but NIOSH plans to eventually conduct a combined analysis of workers from both sites.

The second group of studies are those that NIOSH anticipates completing or communicating in FY’02. A study of heat stress and performance among carpenters at DOE sites is being conducted at Hanford and Oak Ridge. A model may be developed from the study to assess physiological and psychological variations among workers because of hot work environments. Heat stress is a major concern due to the full chemical protective clothing worn by the majority of these workers. The cohort mortality study of the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas was originally published in 1985, but findings were limited because of the small number of deaths in the study population during the short follow-up period. Although the results have now been updated through 1995, an exposure assessment was not included. NIOSH is currently reviewing the report of the updated study.

A lung fibrosis study is being conducted among plutonium workers at the Rocky Flats site. After receiving the final revisions for the report, NIOSH will formulate a strategy to communicate results. A cancer incidence and mortality study among current and former Rocky Flats workers is designed as an epidemiologic evaluation of cancer and occupational exposures. An ionizing radiation and mortality study is being conducted among Hanford workers. New methods are being applied to re-estimate doses previously assumed to be zero; reconsider internal doses in the health risk analysis; and reanalyze cancer and non-cancer mortality data among those workers who encountered chronic low-level external radiation exposures.

The INEEL mortality study is being conducted because this site has never been analyzed. Dosimetry data provided by the site are currently being updated and will be incorporated into NIOSH’s existing dosimetry file for INEEL. Investigators are now completing vital status and demographic profiles for the workforce of 68,000 persons. Additional dosimetry data have been requested and two more years of vital status follow-up will be conducted with the National Death Index File. NIOSH encountered significant delays with the study in FY’01 due to personnel shortages, but activities have now resumed in epidemiology and the initial cohort mortality analysis. This component of the study is expected to be completed in the fall of 2002.

In terms of administrative activities, the NIOSH 2001 program book highlights several areas, including internal projects conducted by staff; external studies conducted through grants and cooperative agreements; points of contact for principal investigators; NIOSH involvement in DOE worker surveillance projects; and completed NIOSH studies. The program book has not been widely distributed to date, but the document can now be accessed on the NIOSH web site. A map is also displayed on the web site that provides links to final reports or peer-reviewed journal articles resulting from a particular site study. NIOSH has enhanced its communication strategy by distributing one-page summaries of final reports. The document outlines a study’s background, findings, recommendations, limitations and advantages. Technical terms are also defined and points of contact to obtain additional information from DOE, NIOSH or the site are provided as well.

The one-page summaries are widely disseminated in both paper and electronic formats, but the executive summary or entire report can also be requested. To ensure that findings are clearly communicated and questions about a study are answered, NIOSH asks labor representatives, investigators and other grantees to participate in telephone calls to the site. However, responses to these requests are not required. For SRSHES members with an interest in obtaining more information, Dr. Ahrenholz pointed out that copies of documents were displayed on the table of meeting materials that summarized conclusions, cited references and listed funding sources for current occupational studies. He also distributed DOE and NIOSH points of contacts, web site addresses and other relevant resources.

Discussion.
Mr. Wills inquired whether NIOSH has conducted studies among chemical workers who breathe organic fumes for an eight-hour day/40-hour week. Dr. Ahrenholz indicated that this group of workers may have been included in other studies of chemical operators, but he planned to review the Oak Ridge and SRS data for confirmation. However, chemical workers with eight-hour exposures have not served as an exclusive population in previous studies because of significant data gaps in chemical exposures, industrial hygiene and dosimetry. Defining exposures for chemical workers with eight-hour exposures is also challenging because this group primarily worked in the technical support, analysis or bench chemistry fields. These workers differ from chemical laboratory workers in the study.

Dr. McClain asked about NIOSH’s process to communicate study results to the general public, particularly small communities or other SRSHES groups excluded from NIOSH mailing lists. Dr. Ahrenholz replied that a communication point of contact DOE identifies for each site provides NIOSH with names of organized labor representatives, retirees, public relations personnel or site contractors with media contacts for press releases. The one-page summary is also circulated in a variety of mechanisms, including newsletters to workers and retirees, reading rooms, local web sites, e-mails, time cards, and mass mailings. NIOSH has a longstanding practice to simultaneously communicate study results to management and labor to ensure that the same messages are conveyed to both groups. These efforts appear to be successful, because NIOSH has received feedback from audiences that were not intentionally targeted to receive materials, such as survivors of deceased workers. Dr. Bustos recessed the meeting for a break from 9:50-10:33 a.m.