Jan. 26, 2009
The province should have done more to deal with arsenic concerns in Blackville sooner, says the chief medical officer.
Despite snow last Thursday, hundreds of residents packed the St. Raphael's Catholic Church hall for a public meeting about the health scare plaguing their community.
Chief medical officer Dr. Eilish Cleary made an unexpected appearance at the meeting and took a few minutes to address the crowd.
Cleary said she thought it was important for her to attend because there was a need for open communication about the arsenic issue.
"I think when this is all done we have to look back and see, you know, are there things we could have done better, in particular this communication."
After speaking with village councillors, it was evident the communication wasn't getting through to the people in Blackville, she said.
"I fully accept that criticism that we, you know, maybe should have come here sooner."
Cleary said it's not always easy to tell which form of arsenic people have in their systems because preliminary tests only screen for total arsenic and don't differentiate.
"Then depending on those results you need to go back and look further and see what type of arsenic is it."
It takes time to get more detailed results and the Health Department is waiting to see what tests show, she said.
"When we get those results then we'll be in a better position to say exactly what's going on."
The village council organized the meeting and invited Conservation Council of New Brunswick science advisor Inka Milewski to help explain the science behind recent tests showing some residents have high levels of arsenic in their systems.
Milewski answered questions from the crowd as she talked about the different types of arsenic and how they react within the human body.
Arsenic can be found in both an organic and inorganic form, but the body can turn inorganic arsenic in toxic compounds called dimethyl and monomethyl arsenic, which Milewski said testers should be looking for.
"Those are the arsenics that are really quite nasty."
Since May, the Health Department has confirmed tests results for seven people have come back with elevated levels of arsenic.
All but one have been the less harmful organic form.
But Milewski told residents inorganic arsenic can transform into the toxic forms quickly and samples sent for testing need to be frozen right away to get accurate results.
"As it sits around, whatever forms of the arsenic are in your system are constantly under change."
Miramichi Regional Health Authority representative Marilyn Underhill addressed the crowd and confirmed the blood samples were frozen but wasn't sure if the urine samples were.
"My understanding is everything has been frozen."
Recent problems with equipment at the testing lab mean it could be weeks before people get their test results back, which Underhill said she only heard about Thursday.
"We do have a number of tests that haven't come back. Quite a few."
One resident who received her test results stepped forward to give Milewski a copy of her results, which only measured the total arsenic and didn't break it down into the different forms.
"It doesn't tell you anything about how you got it," Milewski said.
Southwest Miramichi MLA Rick Brewer attended the meeting and told the crowd it is important to find the arsenic's source.
"We're not going away until we find what the source is."
Although the meeting was organized to give Milewski a chance to address the community's questions, it also provided the person with inorganic arsenic in his system the opportunity to tell his story.
Fenton Sturgeon said he started to have pain in his feet, nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting about two years ago and a naturopathic doctor ordered tests about six months later.
"When that test came back I had what they commonly call now elevated levels of arsenic."
While he was in the hospital, his wife's levels came back high and the couple had to move out of their house as investigators looked for a potential source.
Sturgeon said he asked regional medical officer Denis Allard for help, but there were only two cases at the time.
"It's not an epidemic therefore it's not anything they can help me with."
Investigators couldn't find a source and when he didn't get answers from the province, Sturgeon eventually spoke with a toxicologist from Toronto, he said.
"The biggest part of the problem is people didn't know and wouldn't admit they didn't know."
Milewski said in her past experience in communities with high levels of arsenic, she explained to residents what she was looking at or testing so they understood what was happening.
"A lot of this could have been avoided if the test results were explained to everyone."
Phyllis Drier used to live on Digby Street where some of the cases have come from and after the meeting said it gave people a chance to get information about what's been happening in the village.
"This really enlightened a lot of people. It should have been done a long time ago."
Drier said her blood and urine samples have been sent to the lab in Ontario and she has accepted that waiting for the results is part of the process.
"What is a bit bothersome is we don't have a place to turn to."
Garth Underhill wasn't happy with everything he heard at the meeting and confronted Brewer about the government's response to the situation in Blackville.
After speaking with Brewer, he said he wanted the province to make a commitment to help instead of just saying they will go back and talk about it.
"I was hoping to hear them make a commitment to do something."
It was an informative night, but he thought the government could send a team to Blackville to help find answers, Underhill said.
"When you keep information from people it makes them more suspicious."
Meanwhile District 6 RCMP in Blackville are maintaining an open file on the arsenic situation, but will not go further with it until the government test results are complete.
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