More U-M dioxin study results coming in spring

By Kathie Marchlewski, Midland Daily News
03/29/2007

The $15 million Dow Chemical Co.-funded study on dioxin exposure in local residents found that levels of the manufacturing byproduct are higher in the bodies people who live on contaminated soil, but not by much. The initial assessment, however, left some questions unanswered. More information is on the way. "We’ve been working on data analysis since summer," said Dr. David Garabrant, who led the University of Michigan-conducted study. Results of the work were introduced in August, along with a promise that as the analysis moved forward, more information would be released, such as amounts of dioxin found in various groups within the study population. Garabrant said he plans to host an informational meeting this spring. Last week, a scientific advisory board overseeing the project reviewed additional reports on the data. The initial report released publicly last year included statistics and averages considering the entire group of more than 900 people and showed that people living in the Tittabawassee River flood plain had dioxin levels 28 percent higher than a control group in Jackson and Calhoun counties. Part of the increase, Garabrant said, was due to age. The Jackson/Calhoun group – chosen for its demographic likeness to the Saginaw Valley – averaged four years younger than residents here, skewing the 28 percent increase by about half. Fluctuations in dioxin levels across populations are attributed to factors such as age, sex and body mass index, or the amount of fat a person has. But the U-M study also identified a variety of factors that contributed to higher dioxin levels in residents here, including recreational activities such as swimming, biking, hiking or picnicking on the Tittabawassee River, the Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay, working at Dow, and gardening. The study drew blood samples and measured dioxin levels on land and in house dust. It found that age, diet and all other factors aside, living in Saginaw or Midland counties near the Dow plant, on contaminated soil, increases dioxin levels by about 1 percentage point. It also found that eating contaminated fish contributes to dioxin levels at a rate of about 2 percent a year for each year consumed, and that for each 1,000 parts per trillion of dioxin on property, dioxin levels in the body increase by about 2 percent. Recent river samples have turned up levels around 100,000 parts per trillion in the Tittabawassee, though levels found on residential soil have been less. In Midland’s residential areas, no levels above 950 parts per trillion have been found to date. A summary of the U-M dioxin exposure study and supporting documents are available at the study website, www.umdioxin.org.
 

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