Attach 10A-10C Phase III Introductory Letters

ATTACHMENT 10

Phase III Introductory Letters
10A. Phase III Introductory Letter for Iowa Respondents –
Pesticide Applicators
10B. Phase III Introductory Letter for North Carolina
Respondents
10C. Phase III Introductory Letter for Iowa Respondents –
Spouses

Agricultural Health Study
Iowa Field Station
THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA • 100 OAKDALE CAMPUS • N251 OH • IOWA CITY, IA 52242-5000 • 1.800.217.1954

www.aghealth.org
Executive Committee
Michael C. R. Alavanja, Dr. P.H.
Project Officer
Occupational and Environmental
Epidemiology Branch
National Cancer Institute
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
Executive Plaza South, RM 8000
Rockville, MD 20892
Tel 301.435.4720
Laura Beane Freeman, Ph.D.
Occupational and Environmental
Epidemiology Branch
National Cancer Institute
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
Executive Plaza South, RM 8007
Rockville, MD 20892
Tel 301.451.8793
Jane A. Hoppin, Sc.D.
Epidemiology Branch
National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
P.O. Box 12233
Mail Drop A3-05
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Tel 919.541.7622
Dale P. Sandler, Ph.D.
Chief, Epidemiology Branch
National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
P.O. Box 12233
Mail Drop A3-05
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Tel 919.541.4668
Kent Thomas
Team Leader, Agricultural Health
Study Pesticide Exposure Study
National Exposure Research
Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Mail Drop E205-04
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Tel 919.541.7939

Area Directors
Charles Knott, M.P.A.
North Carolina Director
Battelle
Centers for Public Health
Research & Evaluation
100 Capitola Drive
Durham, NC 27713
Tel 919.544.3717
Charles F. Lynch, M.D., Ph.D.
Iowa Director
University of Iowa
Department of Epidemiology
C21-L GH
Iowa City, IA 52242
Tel 319.384.5006
Marsha Dunn, M.P.H.
Coordinating Center Director
Westat
1650 Research Blvd.
Rockville, MD 20850
Tel 301.738.3557

Date:
To:

Agricultural Health Study Participant

Thank you for your participation in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), a research
study funded by the National Institutes of Health and conducted in Iowa by researchers at the
University of Iowa. The AHS is a long-term study to evaluate whether pesticide workers have
higher rates of certain cancers and diseases. The study has been ongoing since 1993, and will
continue for at least 10 more years.
Within the next few weeks you will receive a phone call from a member of our
research team at the University of Iowa asking you to participate in an interview. The
interview is being performed to ask you to update information you have previously provided to
researchers of the Agricultural Health Study. You will be asked about your work experience
and pesticide use, as well as certain health conditions you and your family may have
experienced since you were last contacted, approximately five years ago. The interview will
last for 15 to 35 minutes, depending on what you say.
Participation in this study is voluntary. There will be no penalties if you decide not to
respond, either to the information collection as a whole or to any particular question. You will
not have any costs by participating and there are no foreseeable risks or direct benefits to you.
Study findings are provided on the Internet at www.aghealth.org, through pesticide applicator
training sessions, and through fact sheets (enclosed), all of which summarize study findings.
The information you provide will be kept confidential and will not be disclosed in
identifiable form to anyone but the researchers and contractors conducting this study or as
provided by law. However, federal regulatory agencies and the University of Iowa Institutional
Review Board (a committee that reviews and approves research studies) may inspect and copy
records pertaining to this research. To protect study participant confidentiality, safeguards are
in place. When study results are published, only summary information is reported, never
names of study members. Personal identifying information is stored in separate password
protected computerized files that are accessible only by authorized research staff. Documents
containing personal identifiers are stored in lockable file cabinets. Staff members read and sign
a confidentiality statement.
If you have any questions or concerns, or if your phone number has changed since
enrollment, or if you do not wish to be contacted about this follow-up study, please call us at
1-800-217-1954. If you have questions or concerns about your rights as a research subject,
please contact the Human Subjects Office, 300 College of Medicine Administration Building,
The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 52242,
(319) 335-6564, or e-mail irb@uiowa.edu. Again, we want to thank you for your assistance in
making the Agricultural Health Study an important and successful study
of health in the agricultural community. We look forward to speaking with you.
Sincerely,

Charles Lynch
Iowa Director

Michael Alavanja
Project Officer

Privacy Act Notification: 42 U.S.C. 285a of the Public Health Service Act authorizes collection of this information. It
will be used to evaluate the role of agricultural exposures and other factors in the development of cancer, neurological
disease, birth defects and other chronic diseases. All information is voluntary and if you decide not to provide all or any
part of the requested information you will not be penalized or lose any benefits for which you otherwise qualify. We will
keep your participation in this research study confidential to the extent permitted by law.

Attachment 10B: Phase III Introduction Letter for North Carolina Respondents

AGRICULTURAL HEALTH STUDY
NC OFFICE • BATTELLE • CENTERS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH & EVALUATION
100 CAPITOLA DR, SUITE 301 • DURHAM, NC 27713 • 1-800-4AG-STUDY

Dear (Mr./ Mrs) LAST NAME:
Thank you for your participation in the Agricultural Health Study. You and others
in North Carolina and Iowa have helped scientists learn more about work and
health. By continuing to follow our participants as they grow older, the study will
become even more valuable to the growing understanding of our agricultural and
rural communities.
We would like to ask you a few questions in a telephone interview to update the
information you have already provided. What you tell us now might help scientists
find answers to questions that would be very important to farmers and others – even
to future generations.
The Agricultural Health Study (www.aghealth.org) is directed by the National
Institutes of Health. All participation is voluntary. We will keep your answers
confidential as provided by law. Identifiers will be stored in locked files or in
password-protected computerized files available only to authorized research staff.
If you have any questions or concerns before we call you or if your telephone
number has changed from (TELEPHONE NUMBER), please call us at
1.800.4AG.STUDY.
You are especially valuable to the study! It is very important that we include you
again even if you are retired or no longer farming.
We look forward to speaking with you.

Sincerely,

Sincerely,

Charles Knott, M.P.A.
North Carolina Director

Michael C.R. Alavanja, Dr. P.H.
Project Officer, National Cancer
Institute

Add flush with lowest line
Privacy Act Notification: 42 U.S.C. 285a of the Public Health Service Act authorizes collection of this information. It will be
used to evaluate the role of agricultural exposures and other factors in the development of cancer, neurological disease, birth
defects and other chronic diseases. All information is voluntary and if you decide not to provide all or any part of the requested
information you will not be penalized or lose any benefits for which you otherwise qualify. We will keep your participation in
this research study confidential to the extent permitted by law.

Agricultural Health Study
Iowa Field Station
THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA • 100 OAKDALE CAMPUS • N251 OH • IOWA CITY, IA 52242-5000 • 1.800.217.1954

www.aghealth.org

Date:

Executive Committee

To:

Michael C. R. Alavanja, Dr. P.H.
Project Officer
Occupational and Environmental
Epidemiology Branch
National Cancer Institute
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
Executive Plaza South, RM 8000
Rockville, MD 20892
Tel 301.435.4720
Laura Beane Freeman, Ph.D.
Occupational and Environmental
Epidemiology Branch
National Cancer Institute
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
Executive Plaza South, RM 8007
Rockville, MD 20892
Tel 301.451.8793
Jane A. Hoppin, Sc.D.
Epidemiology Branch
National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
P.O. Box 12233
Mail Drop A3-05
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Tel 919.541.7622
Dale P. Sandler, Ph.D.
Chief, Epidemiology Branch
National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
P.O. Box 12233
Mail Drop A3-05
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Tel 919.541.4668
Kent Thomas
Team Leader, Agricultural Health
Study Pesticide Exposure Study
National Exposure Research
Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Mail Drop E205-04
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Tel 919.541.7939

Area Directors
Charles Knott, M.P.A.
North Carolina Director
Battelle
Centers for Public Health
Research & Evaluation
100 Capitola Drive
Durham, NC 27713
Tel 919.544.3717
Charles F. Lynch, M.D., Ph.D.
Iowa Director
University of Iowa
Department of Epidemiology
C21-L GH
Iowa City, IA 52242
Tel 319.384.5006
Marsha Dunn, M.P.H.
Coordinating Center Director
Westat
1650 Research Blvd.
Rockville, MD 20850
Tel 301.738.3557

Agricultural Health Study Participant

Thank you for your participation in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), a research study
funded by the National Institutes of Health and conducted in Iowa by researchers at the University
of Iowa. The AHS is a long-term study to evaluate whether pesticide workers and their families
have higher rates of certain cancers and diseases.
You are one of about 21,000 spouses of pesticide applicators in Iowa who enrolled by
either completing a written questionnaire or a telephone interview. Even if your spouse or you
are no longer farming or applying pesticides, your information is still important to us. Many
of the diseases we are studying, such as cancer, are due to exposures that occurred many years ago.
This means we need to look well into the past to study the causes of these diseases. The study has
been ongoing since 1993, and will continue for at least 10 more years.
Within the next few weeks you will receive a phone call from a member of our research
team at the University of Iowa asking you to participate in an interview. You will be asked about
your own pesticide use, as well as certain health conditions you and your family may have
experienced since you were last contacted, approximately five years ago. The interview will last
for 15 to 35 minutes, depending on what you say.
Participation in this study is voluntary. There will be no penalties if you decide not to
respond, either to the information collection as a whole or to any particular question. You will not
have any costs by participating and there are no foreseeable risks or direct benefits to you. Study
findings are provided on the Internet at www.aghealth.org, through pesticide applicator training
sessions, and through fact sheets (enclosed), all of which summarize study findings.
The information you provide will be kept confidential and will not be disclosed in
identifiable form to anyone but the researchers and contractors conducting this study or as provided
by law. However, federal regulatory agencies and the University of Iowa Institutional Review
Board (a committee that reviews and approves research studies) may inspect and copy records
pertaining to this research. To protect study participant confidentiality, safeguards are in place.
When study results are published, only summary information is reported, never names of study
members. Personal identifying information is stored in separate password protected computerized
files that are accessible only by authorized research staff. Documents containing personal
identifiers are stored in lockable file cabinets. Staff members read and sign a confidentiality
statement.
If you have any questions or concerns, or if your phone number has changed since
enrollment, please call us at 1-800-217-1954. If you have questions or concerns about your rights
as a research subject, please contact the Human Subjects Office, 300 College of Medicine
Administration Building, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 52242, (319) 335-6564, or email irb@uiowa.edu. Again, we want to thank you for your assistance in making the Agricultural
Health Study an important and successful study of health in the agricultural community. We look
forward to speaking with you.
Sincerely,

Charles Lynch
Iowa Director

Michael Alavanja
Project Officer

Privacy Act Notification: 42 U.S.C. 285a of the Public Health Service Act authorizes collection of this information. It will
be used to evaluate the role of agricultural exposures and other factors in the development of cancer, neurological
disease, birth defects and other chronic diseases. All information is voluntary and if you decide not to provide all or any
part of the requested information you will not be penalized or lose any benefits for which you otherwise qualify. We will
keep your participation in this research study confidential to the extent permitted by law.