Meeting June 24 on manganese study

New information from a long-awaited study on the effects of airborne manganese is set to be presented later this month to those in the Marietta area.

Rosemarie Bowler, a neuropsychologist from San Francisco State University, will be in town June 24, along with others involved in the study, which was recommended by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and funded through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"We're coming to Marietta to give feedback to the community on our preliminary results," Bowler said.

The presentation is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. at Marietta College and will include time for questions.

The study had been requested by Mid-Ohio Valley residents for about a decade and was recommended by the ATSDR following a year-long air investigation to determine levels of manganese emitted from the Eramet plant south of Marietta on Ohio 7.

"We support the study and are interested, as is everyone, in learning their results," said Eramet spokeswoman Joy Frank-Collins. "We are looking forward to hearing their preliminary findings at the end of this month."

Manganese is an essential nutrient in the human body but studies have found that in high doses it can cause movement disorders and neurological damage in children.

Bowler's study is the first on low-dose manganese exposure over a long period of time and the first comprehensive environmental study of manganese-exposed adults in the U.S., she said.

Her team tested about 100 participants in Marietta in August.The randomly selected people were between 35 and 55, Marietta residents for at least 10 years and had never worked at Eramet.

The tests included blood work, interviews, questionnaires and neurological and neuro-behavorial testing. The results are being compared to testing done in Mount Vernon, Ohio, a city with similar demographics but no exposure to airborne manganese.

Karen Lucas, 43, of Devola, said she's anxious to hear the results.

"I think a lot of people who live here question what we're breathing in," she said. "And we've never really gotten a lot of answers."