STATE MAY LAUNCH BIOMONITORING.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Alarmed at growing evidence linking chemical toxins to health problems, legislators have proposed a statewide study of the chemicals in Californians' bodies caused by environmental pollution and household products.

The ``biomonitoring'' bill passed its first key committee vote Wednesday, but still faces significant corporate and political opposition.

It would create a program to measure the amount and type of chemicals in the bodies of study volunteers through tests of blood, urine and breast milk.

It could also attempt to correlate those levels with various causes, such as household chemicals, or even potentially hazardous sites such as the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Simi Hills, where a recent study found a slightly higher cancer rate among residents of surrounding communities.

``It's time to try to get good science on the environmental causes of cancer,'' said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, who authored the bill with Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento.

SB 1379 is Ortiz's fourth attempt to pass such a bill amid heavy opposition from manufacturers, chemical companies and other business interests.

After rejecting it the two prior years, the Legislature passed a biomonitoring measure in 2005, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it, saying the proposed study was flawed. He directed administration officials to begin looking at creating their own biomonitoring program.

Since then, the state Health and Human Services Department and the California Environmental Protection Agency have been meeting to create a framework for such a program but have not yet developed cost estimates or projected timelines for their effort.

Most opponents have said publicly they don't oppose the concept of biomonitoring but have problems with the bill's structure.

Tim Shestek, a spokesman for the American Chemistry Council, said the group's main concern is that the data would be provided with no context. For example, a study volunteer would be told he has a certain chemical in his body, but not whether the level is harmful.

``This bill assumes the mere detection of a chemical at any level is harmful,'' Shestek said. ``That's contradictory to what the folks at (the federal Centers for Disease Control) say when they do their own biomonitoring program.

``Our view is it's really the beginning. What's necessary is additional research to determine which levels of a chemical may cause health effects and what level may be trivial.''

Other business groups opposing the bill include the California Chamber of Commerce, the American Electronics Association, the Western States Petroleum Association and the California League of Food Processors.

But people living in areas facing serious contamination and health issues welcomed the proposal.

Neighbors of the Santa Susana lab have been concerned for years about the potential health effects caused by the extensive contamination of heavy metals and radiation present in the soil and groundwater near the site.

Bonnie Klea, an activist who has lived near the Santa Susana lab for 35 years and worked there in the 1960s, said she and other neighbors had their hair tested last year and found high levels of harmful materials such as uranium and tin.

She said other Californians would gain by learning the levels of harmful materials in their own bodies.

``I think it's a very, very good idea,'' said Klea, who was treated for bladder cancer 10 years ago that she believes was caused by exposure from the lab. ``We've had these corporations be in denial all these years that they caused any of the neighbors harm.''

The program would cost an estimated $3 million to $5 million, but would be eligible for $1.7 million from the federal government, Ortiz said.

The nature of the study and how to use the data it generates would be determined by an advisory panel to be appointed by state officials and legislators.

But those involved with authoring the bill said they could very likely look at geographic cancer clusters and links to environmental contamination.

Harrison Sheppard, [phone]

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com