The Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR) assesses impact of asbestos on Libby community

This mortality review is only one component of the overall effort of the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR) in assessing the adverse health impacts of asbestos exposure in the Libby community.

Other ongoing activities related to asbestos hazards include medical screening, health education, and additional epidemiologic analyses. An extensive, population-based screening program for respiratory effects is currently being conducted in the Libby area.

Healthcare provider and community health education activities are also being implemented in Libby. ATSDR, in cooperation with a regional pulmonologist, is developing a case-series of persons already diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases to assess significant occupational and environmental exposure pathways.

These diverse activities should assist in characterizing the extent of asbestos exposure in Libby while helping individuals in the community understand their health status as it relates to potential asbestos exposure.

The Pew Environmental Health Commission recently published recommendations regarding the need for surveillance of many environmental-related exposures and adverse health outcomes.

Their report addressed the current problems with the nation's environmental health infrastructure while emphasizing the need for proactive surveillance of environmental exposures and related health effects.

Chronic respiratory disease, an underlying cause of elevated mortality in the Libby study population, is included in the list of adverse health outcomes recommended for inclusion in this national tracking system.

It may have been possible to recognize the elevation in adverse health effects exhibited in Libby if a nationwide tracking system like this had been in place over the last few decades.

However, without such surveillance, it is difficult for federal or state public health agencies to identify increases in morbidity and mortality associated with environmental exposures in small, rural communities like Libby.

Courtesy of the ATSDR and the CDC