April 1, 2010

Dear Community Member,

Thank you for your continued interest in the East Bay Body Burden project. Global Community Monitor and the Study Team continue to move this project forward.  

We are working on a partnership with the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit at University of California, San Francisco. With their involvement, we are revising our protocol to produce the most in depth study that accurately portrays the industrial metals exposure in the West Berkeley and West Oakland communities.

Our study time line is currently being revised to reflect the new partnership and protocol revisions. Our goal is to submit all paperwork throughout April and early May and start the study in late spring/early summer (May/June) with a final report by fall 2010.

Our current protocol includes blood testing of children, middle age and elderly residents living with in .6 miles of Pacific Steel Casting (Berkeley) or Custom Alloy Scrap Sales (Oakland). However, one of the aspects of the protocol we are debating is whether the study should focus ONLY on children ages 5-12.

As soon as the protocol is approved, the study team will be in touch to conduct a screening questionnaire to see if you or your family would be eligible for the study. If you are not eligible, GCM and the study team will prepare a packet of informational resources that will be made available to interested community members that may want to pursue their own independent testing.

If you, have any questions, comments, suggestions or concerns, or would like to be removed from this update list, please feel free to contact me by email: ruth@gcmonitor.org or by phone: (510) 233-1870. You can get all the latest information on the East Bay Body Burden Study at www.gcmonitor.org OR www.berkeleymonitor.org.

For clean air and healthy communities,

Ruth Breech, East Bay Body Burden Study Principal Investigator
Program Director, Global Community Monitor

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