Radiation and Health Information Available for People Exposed to Radiation From Hanford.

OLYMPIA, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 1998--People who receive a Hanford radiation dose estimate for their thyroid gland through a new public service beginning today may want to know more about radiation exposure and health.

The Hanford Health Information Network (HHIN) can help.

HHIN provides information about potential health effects of radiation exposure from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Since 1993, HHIN has answered questions from citizens and health care providers through its toll-free lines, publications, and community outreach. Callers speak directly to trained health educators who provide current information from a broad range of medical and scientific perspectives. In Washington, HHIN can be accessed by calling 800/522-4446. HHIN's publications and newsletters are also available on the internet at http://www.doh.wa.gov/hanford/.

The Hanford Individual Dose Assessment (IDA) Project, a separate project from HHIN, begins today. Both projects are operated by the state health agencies of Washington, Oregon and Idaho but have different purposes.

"The Hanford IDA Project's purpose is to help people get their dose estimates," said John Erickson, Director of Radiation Protection for the Washington State Department of Health. "People who have questions about radiation and health should call HHIN."

Beginning today, people who spent time within a 75,000-square-mile Hanford study area during the 1940s and 1950s may call the Hanford IDA Project at 800/432-6242 to request their radiation dose estimate.

"As I begin the process of receiving a dose estimate, I'm relieved to know that the Hanford Health Information Network is there to respond to my health-related questions and concerns," said Carol Baker, who was exposed to radiation from Hanford as a teenager living in Yakima and Granger, Wash., from 1943 through 1946.

In 1991 after citizens demanded information about Hanford's past releases, Congress authorized funds for the health agencies from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho to develop a program, which became HHIN. With the absence of any Congressionally appropriated funds to carry the program beyond this year, HHIN's future remains in question. On October 21, 1998, however, four U.S. Senators -- Patty Murray, D-Wash., Slade Gordon, R-Wash., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore. -- sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy encouraging HHIN funding through 2001.

Early next year, results of the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study are anticipated. This epidemiological study, conducted by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is investigating whether there has been an increase in thyroid disease among persons exposed to the air releases of radioactive iodine from Hanford in the 1940s and 1950s.

Editor's Note: A new public service beginning today offers people who spent time around Hanford during the 1940s and 1950s individualized information about how much radiation dose their thyroid gland may have received. The Hanford Individual Dose Assessment (IDA) Project, operated by the health agencies of Washington, Oregon and Idaho and funded by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may inspire questions about Hanford's releases and the potential health effects of exposure to radiation.

The Hanford Health Information Network (HHIN) was established by Congressional mandate in 1991 to respond to such questions. Please consider the value to your audience of including HHIN's name, purpose and toll-free telephone number as a supplement to stories about the Hanford radiation dose estimate service.