Surveying the Damage

Tim Paxton has lived in Bellingham for 22 years. He has a strong interest in advocating for the public’s health.

In February, KING 5 TV reported an alarming story about Ritalin use in Whatcom County as one of highest in the nation. In fact, Whatcom County is now in the top seven Ritalin use counties nationwide. The information had been brought to light, not through government investigation, but through the work of local concerned mothers.

Non-government health professionals discovered the alarming Ritalin facts through a review of data and statistics. There are many reasons for behavior disorders and no conclusions have been made at this time. However, behavior disorders in children of the type found in Bellingham kids have also been associated with pollutants including heavy metal contamination.

This Ritalin fact alone should set alarm bells ringing among families concerned about their children’s health. What other factors, including pollutants, could impact our health if we are seeing such a tremendous health problem in Whatcom County children?

Bellingham and Whatcom County have been the victim of numerous and heavy environmental pollutants over the years. Benzene, mercury, and sewage contaminants are found in our drinking water reservoir. Chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, benzene, and toluene are measured in our air.

The list of pollutants in Whatcom County is long and the health effects may be widespread. Only a systematic study will begin to unravel the effects and rates of other environmentally related health problems in our community.

Enter the tool of the Northwest Washington Health Survey, written and designed by the Environmental Exposure Network. This organization is run by local health professionals, registered nurses with over 30 years combined experience in direct patient health care. They have concluded that, in order to help people locally, it is first necessary to determine if we have significant health problems in our community.

With the assistance and review of epidemiologists, physicians, naturopaths, hazardous waste experts, scientists, statisticians, and university researchers, an eight-page health survey questionnaire was created in July 2000.

The health survey gathers and tracks data geographically that might one day show a web of causation. It tracks families and examines many factors in their lives. The survey has a health section, a pet and animal health section, and a habitat section.

This in-depth focus helps track all possible toxins and contaminants. Since the upcoming methyl mercury study does not plan to study health effects, it is timely that the survey will be examining possible health effects from multiple sources.

The non-profit group conducting the health survey is more interested in reviewing the whole picture and not just mercury. Environmental Exposure Network’s survey looks at many well-known health problems that are of local interest: hepatitis, thyroid disease, infectious diseases, birth defects, miscarriage rates, learning disabilities, autism, ADD (attention deficit disorder), and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), as well as neurological disorders (multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease).

The survey differs from other health surveys because it looks at possible exposure details from soil to water to recreation to occupation to food to dental work. It’s a detailed attempt to determine family exposure to toxins.

Currently, the health survey is being filled out by dozens of Whatcom County families. The goal is to collect data that can be analyzed and reviewed by scientists, epidemiologists, and university researchers.

The Environmental Exposure Network (EEN), a Bellingham non-profit group that is gathering the data, has free health survey forms available. The confidential eight-page survey can be requested by phone: (360) 224-7631 or (360) 756-5118; by mail: EEN, P.O. Box 2633, Bellingham 98227 or via email at hgmessenger@earthlink.net or bogart@u.washington.edu.

Results of the survey will be used to assist families with treatment or with information about treatment possibilities. Confidentiality is a critical component (families create their own code), and only the statistically relevant, collated data will be shared with other researchers.

People who fill out the health survey may also wish to take a completed copy to their health provider. It will give them a more complete picture of family health problems.

The more families who participate in the survey, the better the understanding of the health situation in Whatcom County will become. If enough data is generated that can be presented to government health agencies, more medical health assistance or environmental cleanups could proceed.

As the KING 5 Ritalin story showed, waiting for our government to discover community health problems is not a reliable avenue for action.