ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR seeks to survey former Libby vermiculite workers
and their families for tremolite asbestos exposure registry

For Immediate Release: November 5, 2002

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, wants former Libby, Montana, vermiculite workers and their families to participate in a brief survey as the first step in participating in ATSDR's tremolite asbestos exposure registry.
Until December 1990, workers in W.R. Grace and Zonolite Co. vermiculite mining and processing operations in and near Libby might have been exposed to tremolite asbestos. Members of their households also might have been exposed.

Questions in the 10-minute survey are mainly related to participants' work and residential history.

Qualified survey participants will be offered the opportunity to participate in ATSDR's tremolite asbestos exposure registry.

The Department of Health and Human Services recently allocated ATSDR $1 million to develop the registry. Registry members will not receive health care, but during their membership they and their health care providers will receive information about the latest asbestos medical research and exposure treatment advances.

The exposure registry also will provide asbestos researchers valuable, long-term health tracking information. The identity of registry participants will be strictly confidential.

Those interested in survey participation should contact the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), which is administering the survey for ATSDR. NORC can be contacted toll free at 1-877-LIBBY88 (1-877-542-2988).

Former workers or family members wishing additional information about the survey should contact Epidemiologist Ted Larson toll free at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737). Regional Representative Dan Strausbaugh also may be called in Helena, Mont., at 406-457-5007. Callers should refer to the tremolite asbestos survey.

Members of the media are asked to contact Kathy Skipper or John Florence in the ATSDR Office of Policy and External Affairs to schedule an appointment to interview ATSDR staff. Please call 404-498-0070.

For more information, contact ATSDR at:
1-888-422-8737 or e-mail: atsdric@cdc.gov (public inquiries)
404-498-0080 or e-mail: atsdrmediainquires@cdc.gov (news media)