The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 03011988 - IO.3 TO- BOARD OF SUPERVISORS �fy'�t�'+� FROM. V�,V,I�,,I�I,L,�4 INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE CJIJJIQ DATE: February 22 , 1988 Co "�' SUBJECT: �1 7� Prospective Cancer Study SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . Acknowledge receipt of this status report on the prospective cancer study. 2 . Leave this item on referral to our Committee. BACKGROUND: As the Board is aware, our Committee has been following for some. time planning for a prospective occupational cancer study. On February 22, 1988 , Wendel Brunner, M.D. , Director of Public Health, reviewed with us his December 21, 1987 status report on this subject, a copy of which is attached to this report. Dr. Brunner ' s report outlines the three pilot projects that are being planned to: 1 . Identify suitable cohorts exposed to occupational carcinogens to be followed in the study; 2 . Incorporate work history into the current tumor registry database in the Bay Area; and 3'. Link occupational records, including exposure data maintained by industry with the database of the Bay Area tumor registry. Dr. Brunner noted recent evidence of increased cancer rates in San Francisco, Marin, and Alameda counties. He also noted that considerable progress has been made in the past few years in reducing the levels of toxic contamination in the air. This may well mean that a prospective study of cancer will show no clear connection between occupation or residence with cancer while current cases of cancer would argue for such a conclusion. This might show that we have cleaned up the air in the Bay Area to the point that we have destroyed most of the evidence linking CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR X RECOMMENDATION OF- BOARD COMMITTEE —X APPROVE OTHER _ /k1 SIGNATURES : Sunne W. McPeak om Torlakson ACTION OF BOARD ON March A. -PROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT j ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES:_ NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: County Administrator ATTESTED Health Services Director �- Wendel Brunner, M.D. , PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF Public Health Director SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY D M382/7-83 —. EPUTY Page 2 occupation or place of residence with cancer. This would, of course, be seen as a successful outcome to the years of effort to reduce the levels of air pollution in the Bay Area. Further .status reports will be made to our Committee during the coming year. i f -�� ATTACHMENT A ` r, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY HEALTH SERVICES DEPARTMENT uu� V t To: Date: Claude Van Marter December 21, 1987 Assistant County Administrator From: �! Wendel Brunner, M.D../ � / ,. ' Subject: Progress on Prospective Director of Public Health Occupational Cancer Proposal I am writing at your request to update you on progress toward implementinq the prospective occupational cancer study. The plan for developing the prospective occupational cancer study is outlined in an extensive report of December 18, 1986 to the Internal Operations Committee. That proposal identifies three pilot projects and a plannina process to imple- ment the 'prospective cancer study and forms the basis for the last year' s acti - vities. In addition to the prospective cancer plan, priority has been aiven in I some areas to developinq the Bay Area Cancer Prevention Summit initiative. The first pilot project outlined in the prospective occupational cancer study proposal involves utilization of the AB2185 county database to identify suitable cohorts exposed to occupational carcinogens to be followed in the study. Over the past year progress has been made in developing the database with 1,000 busi - nesses filing business plans with the Health Services Department under AB2185. it A letter of intent describing the database pilot program based on the detailed � I information presented in our 1986 report and the specific progress in establishing the AB2185 database has been developed and sent initially to the j Kellogg Foundation for consideration. We will follow up on that contact and f pursue other possible foundation sources for funding. The second pilot program involves incorporatinq work history into the current tumor registry database in the Bay Area, particularly Contra Costa County. That project has been now been funded by the National Institute for Occupational Science and Health and is presently beina implemented in Contra Costa County. The Health Services Department has assisted Dr. Glazer, the principal investiga- tor, in ohtainina_ cooperation from major hospitals in Contra Costa to par- ticipate in this pilot. We have also assisted the principal investigator in obtaininq supoort for the program from the various local and state investiga- tional review committees which oversee studies involving human subjects. Finally, the first data for this program is beinq collected at Merrithew Memorial Hospital , developina the procedures and testina the nuestionnaires which will be used in the other hospitals in Contra Costa. With the implemen- tation of this program occupational history data will be obtained for cancer patients in Contra Costa and included in the tumor reqistry database. That I occupational history in the database will allow the investigation of occuna- tional causes of cancer usinq the Bay Area tumor registry. 4 A-41 3/81 I � . I ti Claude Van Marter -2- December 21, 1987 The third pilot program involves the linkage of occupational records includinq exposure data maintained by industry with the database of the Bay .Area tumor registry. Such a linkage would allow both the historical prospective and prospective following of chemical industrial cohorts for occupational cancer effects. Industry has a number of concerns about how data which they might pro- vide would be used; the Health Services Department also -insists that data pro- vided by industry be subject to credible evaluation by non-industry experts. Considerable progress has been made over the last year toward incorporating the information available to the major petrochemical industry in Contra Costa into a general evaluation of occupational cancer. The Health Services Department met with the senior state or national medical epidemiologists representing Chevron, Shell , Dow, Dupont, and UNOCAL to discuss the occupational cancer information available from those companies and fair and credible ways that information could be utilized to evaluate occupational cancer risk. Industry is understandably concerned that their data be given a public hearing in a manner which would j reassure the community of the low risk of occupational cancer within their establishments. The Health Services Department wishes to ensure that industry data receive a thorough evaluation by independent experts. We are continuing planning with William Bailey, Senior Epidemiologist for Chevron Corporation, for a public presentation of industry occupational cancer data and ways to make that database available to the prospective cancer study. In the meantime some of that industrial data is already being used to evaluate occupational cancer. Don Austin from the tumor registry has worked with Dow Chemical to link industry records to the population based tumor registry. The results of that pilot program will be published shortly and serve as a model for further cooperative efforts on a larger scale with the other petrochemical industries in Contra Costa. While the prospective cancer study can aive us an indication of the occupational and environmental contributions to cancer, the more immediate concern is to develop effective strategies for the prevention of cancer from all causes. To that end we are involving Will Bailey, representing the group of senior petrochemical industry epidemiologists, in the planning process for the Bay Area Cancer Prevention Summit initiative. Participation in this Summit initiative will provide the opportunity for industry to participate in the general preven- tion of cancer in the community as well as to further develop the joint eva- luation of industrial occupational cancer data. WB: rm cc: Mark Finucane Health Services Director