WVXU: UC hosting Q&A session for people who lived near Fernald during its uranium processing days
UC environmental health expert says people who lived near the plant are still concerned
Event Information (passed)
The Center for Environmental Genetics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine is sponsoring a Science Café on the health effects of uranium exposure. In a story published by WVXU, Susan Pinney, PhD, professor in the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences at the UC College of Medicine and a member of the Cincinnati Cancer Center, told the radio station people who lived by the Fernald Urannium Processing Plant still have concerns about their health.
Susan Pinney, PhD, professor in the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences at the UC College of Medicine/Photo/Colleen Kelley/UC Creative + Brand
"We had been getting calls," she says. "We sent out a newsletter and questionnaire last fall and recognized the need of the community for more information."
Those attending the event will write down their questions, which will be answered by a panel of experts. The panel includes Pinney; Jeanette Buckholz, MSN; Nicholas Newman, DO; and Michelle Burbage, PhD., all with the UC College of Medicine.
"There's no exposure anymore to anyone who is living near to where the uranium refinery site used to be, but there is the legacy exposure to uranium and the risk of health effects," says Pinney. "Just because the exposure has stopped, with something like uranium and radon, the risk for certain health effects does continue."
The event is described by Pinney as an informal discussion session, adding there won't be any lectures or PowerPoint presentations. UC's Center for Environmental Genetics will follow up the next week with a health fair Sept. 22. That's for all people living in the Fernald area, including Ross, Fairfield and Colerain.
Lead photo/Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
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