Worried Locals Seek Blood Testing

Richmond neighbors fear toxic contaminants

Pia Sarkar / SF Chronicle 7dec00

Ethel Dotson of Richmond brought vials of her own blood to a state blood lab in Berkeley where she asked that it be tested for toxic chemicals. Chronicle photo by Mark Costantini

Ethel Dotson showed up at a state laboratory in Berkeley yesterday with 10 vials of her blood and a demand to know what toxins might be in it.

She and a half-dozen other Richmond residents gathered in front of the Hazardous Materials Laboratory, saying they fear that chemicals used in facilities near their homes could have found their way into their systems.

"I have a right to know what's in my body," said Dotson, dabbing her eyes as she talked about her mother, who suffers from emphysema, and her sister who died of lung cancer.

Dotson, 59, who has lived in Parchester Village in Richmond since 1943, said it was time for the state to do something. She and others were emboldened by a report released yesterday that showed Bay Area residents living with high levels of some chemicals.

The report was released yesterday by Communities for a Better Environment, a nonprofit environmental health and justice organization that works with urban communities affected by industrial pollution.

The group focused on a chemical known as polybrominated diphenyl ether, or PBDE, which is a flame retardant additive found in plastics and foam used in computers, TVs and furniture.

Greg Karras, a senior scientist for the group, said although the dangers of PBDEs are not fully known, they add to the toxicity of dioxins, which have been linked to health problems such as cancer.

A 1995-96 study by the California Hazardous Materials Laboratory showed high levels of PBDEs in samples of breast fat taken from five women in the Bay Area, the report said.

Karras said the chemicals were added to plastics as a flame retardant because the blending of PBDEs does not disturb the manufacturing process. Even though the negative effects of the chemical are still largely unknown, it could take 10 to 20 years to find out, and by that time it could be too late, Karras said.

State agencies are beginning to analyze the risks that PBDEs may pose. The state Department of Toxic Substance Control recently agreed to test the soot from the Oct. 26 explosion and fire at MBA Polymers, a plastics recycling plant in Richmond, according to Karen Susag, community health advocate for CBE.

The fire killed a forklift operator and forced thousands of residents to stay inside their homes.

As for the 10 vials of blood that Dotson brought in for testing, the state laboratory has agreed to store them until officials decide what to do with them.

"We accepted the blood samples and we are going to work with the county to discuss what the next steps are," said Ron Baker, information officer for the state Department of Toxic Substance Control in Sacramento.

Susag said the Richmond residents who joined Dotson yesterday have also asked for their blood to be tested.

But until that happens, people like Dotson will simply have to wait.

"Everybody's passing the buck, and the buck stops here," she said in the lobby of the state lab yesterday.

E-mail Pia Sarkar at psarkar@sfchronicle.com