Great lakes research--important human health findings and their impact on ATSDR's Superfund research program

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, commonly known as Superfund. ATSDR is the principal United States federal public health agency involved with issues of public health and applied science concerning the human health impact of living in the vicinity of a hazardous waste site, or emergencies resulting from unplanned releases of hazardous substances into community environments. In pursuing these mandates, ATSDR's mission is to prevent exposure and adverse human health effects and diminished quality of life associated with exposure to hazardous substances from waste sites, unplanned releases, and other sources of pollution present in the environment. There are more than 2,000 toxic substances found at hazardous waste sites in the United States. ATSDR has developed a prioritized list of 275 substances that pose the greatest hazard to human health. In conducting its work ATSDR has identified data gaps in knowledge about the toxicity of various hazardous substances as well as gaps in human exposure characterization. As part of its mandate, ATSDR initiated a Substance-Specific Applied Research Program (SSARP) to address these data gaps. The ATSDR Great Lakes Human Health Effects Research Program (GLHHERP) is a congressionally-mandated research program that characterizes exposure to persistent toxic substances and investigates the potential for adverse health outcome in at-risk populations. The research findings from this program in the areas of exposure, sociodemographic data, and health effects have significant public health implications for ATSDR's Superfund research activities.