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Late Breaking News |
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| Date: July 30, 1998 4:36 pm Contact: Physicians for Social Responsibility Sharon Pickett, 301-365-9307, or Karen Perry, 202-898-0150, ext. 249 |
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Latest News Releases
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Physicians, Activists Call Hudson River a Health Hazard, Demand Faster Cleanup of PCBs | ||
| WASHINGTON - July 30 - The following was released today by Physicians
for Social Responsibility: President Clinton today officially designated the Hudson River an American Heritage River. But with 200 miles of the river bottom coated with toxic PCBs, the Hudson is also the country's largest Superfund site. "This river, which is so important to the history and culture of New York state, is also making people sick," said Cathy Falvo, M.D., a pediatrician and president the New York City chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). "Despite the claims of General Electric's paid scientists, the Hudson is heavily contaminated with PCBs and they won't just go away." General Electric, which is responsible for dumping PCBs from a number of facilities into the Hudson, has stubbornly refused to admit that these pollutants pose a health threat. However, studies show that exposure to PCBs, primarily through contaminated fish and other foods, can adversely affect intellectual function, short-term memory and behavior. PCBs are also suspected to cause cancer. "PCBs are known neurotoxins capable of damaging the brain development of children," said Philip Landrigan, M.D., director of environmental and occupational medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and a PSR board member. "They cross the placenta and accumulate in breast milk, exposing the fetus and nursing infant at a vulnerable time. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has advised women to consume no fish from the Hudson during their entire pregnancy." Just last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new findings that PCBs in Hudson River sediments are leaching back into the water. GE has been fighting the agency over its order to dredge the river to remove the PCBs. If PCBs are moving out of sediments and into the river, they are likely to volatilize into the air at the surface. They can be carried by wind thousands of miles, posing a widespread health risk. "This is a serious local problem, but it is also an international issue," said Gene Fisher, a member of the Hudson Valley Sustainable Communities Network. "We need to get the PCBs cleaned up from our river, but we also need strong international action to eliminate PCBs and similar chemicals globally." A global treaty to eliminate PCBs and 11 other persistent organic pollutants is currently being negotiated. Although the manufacture of new PCBs has already been banned in the United States and most other countries, it is estimated that 35 percent of all PCBs ever produced has been released to the environment and some 60 percent is still in service in electrical components or in landfills, creating potential problems. ------ Note: Experts available for interviews upon request. -0- |
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