September 10, 2002 Hill Mail Getting Less Radiation August 15, 2002 By Suzanne Nelson (Roll Call) Capitol officials are attributing a decline in the number of staffers complaining of mail-related illnesses primarily to lower levels of irradiation applied to mail during treatment. The reduction was prompted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on two separate occasions, once late last year and again in late April. OSTP "validated" the total dose delivered and recommended procedures to lower the dose, OSTP spokeswoman Kathryn Harrington said. "Manufacturers thought that if a little dose was good, a little more was better, but that really isn't true," she said. "We didn't lower the dose per se but restored the dose to the recommended levels." Questions surrounding the safety of irradiated mail have continually surfaced on the Hill since such mail began arriving on staffers' desks following the anthrax-tainted letters received last fall. In January and February, 131 staffers reported symptoms ranging from tingling fingers to bloody noses to the Office of Attending Physician. The number of staffers reporting symptoms to the physician's office has since plummeted. From March to mid-April, 10 staffers reported symptoms. Since the beginning of June, 15 people have reported symptoms. The majority of the recent incidents were dermatitis of the hands, some of which were attributable to allergic reactions to the dry, brittle mail. Most were prescribed cream ointment, and the doctor recommended they wear gloves when in contact with irradiated mail and wash their hands frequently. The Office of Attending Physician also did a follow-up survey in May and June of those who had originally reported illnesses associated with handling irradiated mail. Of the 131 people, 15 percent either returned to the office for a follow-up or reported continuing symptoms. An unspecified number of staffers with persistent or severe cases were sent to their own physicians for follow-up care. All mail sent via the U.S.Postal Service to Congress, the Supreme Court, the White House and federal agencies is irradiated. Government ZIP codes beginning with 202, 203, 204 and 205 are separated from the rest of the mail sent to the District and sent to Bridgeport, N.J., for radiation by Ion Beam Applications, a Belgian company contracted with the USPS, using electron-beam technology. The irradiated mail is then sent back to Washington to be sorted at V Street Northeast and then heads to the Hill, the White House and the agencies. Because Congress' mail isn't initially separated from that of the executive or judicial branches, a unified decision had to be made, and the White House took the lead in determining the radiation levels, according to a government official. "Obviously the legislative branch doesn't have the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and the military," the official said. "The executive branch was in the unique situation to bring a diversity of assets to do the due diligence on the scientific side." Another factor possibly contributing to the decreased incidences of mail-related complaints could be the longer "off-gassing" periods, according to officials. Previously the mail was taken relatively quickly from radiation to be bundled in cellophane, but now there is a much longer time frame in which the mail is allowed to air out, preventing staffers from getting whiffs of the byproducts of the radiation, such as carbon monoxide. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Alfonso Lenhardt said new technology for treating the mail is also under consideration. IBA has the capability to decontaminate the mail with X-ray beams, which, according to the company's Web site, allows greater product penetration than electron-beam sterilization and is the only technology capable of treating bulky mail configurations. But Lenhardt said there is some concern about using X-rays to treat letters and packages because of the destructive effects it would have on some contents, such as prescriptions and contact lenses. Lenhardt said officials must consider whether the new process is safer, but he didn't give a timetable for a decision. Two studies examining the safety of irradiated mail came to different conclusions. A study done by the National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health concluded in April that of 10 contaminants that could potentially come from irradiated mail, none was detected in Capitol Hill buildings at levels known to cause health problems. The report was commissioned by the Legislative Mail Task Force, a bicameral entity set up to examine the safety of irradiated mail and the timeliness of mail delivery. But a separate report released by the general counsel of the Office of Compliance in June found that handling irradiated mail for substantial periods may be the cause, or a contributing cause, or adverse health effects reported by legislative branch employees and recommended further study. Both studies have their share of critics. The Office of Compliance study has been faulted for not being sufficiently scientific, and, throughout its report, the Office of Compliance noted the lack of cooperation afforded it by the NIOSH study. David Carte, a spokesman for Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), whose office had initially reported a few sick staffers, said: "As the Senate has worked through this, the situation has improved remarkably." But he added that an air filter is on at all times in areas of the office where mail is kept. "If there are pieces with the plastic [windows] melted, which has been a particular problem, it has not been uncommon for people to suffer some coughing and to move the paper away temporarily." The parched look of the mail and the strong odors that emanate from it have caused some to continue to question its safety. One source close to the process said the physician's office and the Sergeant-at-Arms have always been "of one mind"that irradiation does not pose a health risk. "The Office of Attending Physician and the Sergeant-at-Arms have a vested interest in saying everything is fine," the source said. "A lot of the problems have been worked out and they are not really frying it as much," the source said, but added that the mail still has a "weird, chemical smell." "I still don't like to open something that's been irradiated."