Final results of benzene public-health study to be presented at the Bear Tooth
by Kathleen McCoy |
Thursday, Nov. 20, 3 p.m.
Bear Tooth Theatre Pub
On Thursday, Nov. 20, at 3 p.m. in the Bear Tooth Theatre, the official results of a benzene pollution study will be announced. The research was conducted by Dr. Mary Ellen Gordian, a public health physician and an associate professor of environmental health in UAA's Institute of Social and Economic Research.
Gordian and her staff used the city's property-tax rolls to learn which houses have attached garages, a structure previously known to encourage elevated benzene levels. From that group of almost 10,000, they recruited nearly 600 families who agreed to participate in the study by setting out a small canister in their homes that would absorb benzene. The participants, who mailed the canisters back to Gordian after a week, also filled out questionnaires and a health survey for each member of the family information that Gordian is now investigating.
The incentive for participating was that, through a lottery, eight people were each going to win $100. UAA's Chancellor Fran Ulmer will draw the winning names at the event on Thursday.
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