In Hayden and Winkelman, Arizona, historic and ongoing copper smelting and processing operations have released contaminants to the air, soil, and surface water (EPA 2018). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cleaned up residential soils between 2008 and 2014 (EPA 2015). However, residents may continue to be exposed to lead, arsenic, and copper in non-residential soil and air and sulfur dioxide in air (ADHS 2018).

In 2015, ATSDR provided voluntary lead and arsenic testing to Hayden and Winkelman residents most at risk for health effects from arsenic and lead exposure (ATSDR 2017). ATSDR tried to determine whether participants have higher levels of lead and arsenic in their bodies than the U.S. population. ATSDR’s report on the 2015 lead and arsenic testing concluded:

• Some children had been exposed to lead at levels that could harm their health.

• Overall, children and adolescent participants had more lead in their bodies than children and adolescents from across the United States.

• We needed more information to determine how much arsenic participants have in their bodies when air pollution levels are typical for the community.

During the 2015 testing, the smelter was shut down for maintenance, reducing the level of lead and arsenic in air that participants breathed. Decreased exposure to arsenic in air could have reduced the amount of arsenic in participants’ urine.

In 2017, ATSDR offered follow-up urine arsenic testing to residents of households that participated in our 2015 investigation – 33 residents participated. We did this follow-up testing to learn if residents have higher urine arsenic levels than the U.S. population when the smelter was operating normally. This report summarizes the 2017 follow-up urine arsenic test results.

Asarco_Hayden_Smelter_Site_HC_EI_2019-508.pdf

Report

Arizona

Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library collection