Arsenic Retest Recruitment Letter

Follow Up Biologic Testing for Exposure to Arsenic ASARCO Hayden, AZ Exposure Investigation

Attachment 8: Arsenic Retest Recruitment Letter

(ATSDR Letterhead)

DATE ________________

Name XXXXX

Address XXXX

Dear ____________

I’d like to again thank [you/your child/your children] for taking part in the lead and arsenic testing the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR) offered in Hayden and Winkelman, AZ in 2015. I am writing to invite [you/your child/your children] to participate in a second urine arsenic test.

The goal of the 2015 testing was to find out if residents most at risk for lead and arsenic exposure or health effects from those exposures have elevated levels of these metals in their bodies. Unfortunately, because the smelter was shut down for maintenance during the testing, ATSDR was not able to make this determination for arsenic. Because of the smelter shutdown, there was less arsenic in the air. Participants may have breathed in less arsenic than they usually do, reducing the amount of arsenic in their urine.

We want to retest participants’ urine for arsenic at a time when the smelter is operating normally. We’ll contact you discuss this arsenic testing opportunity when we are in Hayden and Winkelman [DATES] to sign up participants. If you want to participate, or have questions, please contact me by phone [1-888-320-5291 (toll free) or 770-488-0771] or email BTierney@cdc.gov.

ATSDR is not offering a second blood lead test. Lead stays in blood longer than arsenic stays in urine, so we do not think the smelter shut down had a large effect on participants’ blood lead results.

ATSDR wrote a report on the findings of the 2015 blood and urine testing. You can read the report (and a summary of it) at the Hayden Public Library and on the ATSDR website (https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/hwaz/).

Sincerely,

Bruce C. Tierney, MD

Lead Investigator – Asarco Hayden Smelter Exposure Investigation

ATSDR Division of Community Health Investigations, Exposure Investigation Team