Savannah River Site Health Effects Subcommittee (SRSHES) Meeting

Meeting Minutes
March 14, 2003

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Dr. Steven Ahrenholz, of the Health-Related Energy Research Branch (HERB), reported that a new NIOSH Director and HERB Branch Chief were appointed in 2002. A vacancy announcement to fill the position of the Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies Director closed on March 4, 2003. He described several extramural projects NIOSH recently completed. A study of heat stress associated with remediation work by carpenters at the Hanford site was completed in the summer of 2002. Challenges of the study included a small sample size and resistance by contract managers for workers to participate. A study of glycophorin biodosimetry among patients treated with iodine-131 was completed in the summer of 2002. No workers from DOE sites were included in this research project.

A cross-sectional study of surveillance methods for solvent-related hepatotoxicity among painters with mixed-solvent exposures, carpenters and millwrights at Hanford was completed in the summer of 2002. The goal of this project was to examine biomarkers and other parameters associated with liver function. A lung fibrosis study among plutonium workers at Los Alamos and Rocky Flats was completed in November 2002. With respect to the future of NIOSH’s research agenda, CDC has modified its policy for peer-reviewed studies. Each intramural project will be reviewed at least once every five years in addition to the usual peer review of protocols and final reports.

NIOSH’s priority intramural projects include cohort mortality studies at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL); a study of chemical laboratory workers; an internal epidemiological data system project; a K25 multiple myeloma study; a leukemia case/control study; and a leukemia study among PNS workers. SRS workers will be included in the chemical laboratory workers project and the leukemia case/control study. The epidemiological data system will serve as a single source for HERB to access worker data across all DOE sites.

In 2002, NIOSH awarded three new grants. The University of Louisville will study health effects of occupational exposures among Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant workers. The University of Washington will develop stochastic models for radiation carcinogenesis to identify temporal factors and dose-rate effects. Existing data on workers from DOE sites will be collected and included in the research project, but actual workers will not be followed. The University of North Carolina will analyze susceptibility and occupational radiation risks; the cohort will include SRS workers.

Although HERB staff and other resources have been reduced, several research projects are still expected to be completed and communicated in 2003: an epidemiological evaluation of cancer among Rocky Flats workers; an ionizing radiation and mortality study among Hanford workers; an assessment of radon and cigarette smoking exposure among Fernald workers; cohort mortality studies among INEEL, PNS and Pantex Plant workers; a study of beryllium disease natural history and exposure response; a study of chronic beryllium disease among beryllium-exposed workers; a study of sensitization and disease caused by beryllium dose; epidemiological studies to evaluate health effects of uranium milling; an analysis of corrections in measurement errors of radiation exposure; an uncertainty analysis to characterize plutonium exposure and improve lung cancer risk estimates; and a dose reconstruction of Chernobyl liquidators.

NIOSH communicates its study results with a one-page synopsis on the context of the project, findings, contact information for principal investigators and instructions to obtain additional information. Completed and ongoing research projects of workers at SRS and all other DOE sites can be accessed on the HERB web site at www.cdc.gov/niosh/2001-133.html. In terms of future initiatives, HERB will more extensively collaborate with OCAS to identify completed and ongoing projects that may be useful to EEOICPA. OCAS will also inform HERB of its specific activities that may benefit the NIOSH research agenda. However, the strategy to share intra-agency research has not been developed to date.