Toxicologist Downplays Effects of Fire at Dump in Newhall

A dump fire last year that sickened dozens of people did not release large amounts of toxins, a chemical expert told Los Angeles County firefighters Thursday.

But blood tests have raised the possibility that at least 16 of the approximately 200 firefighters who battled the blaze in Newhall last summer may have been exposed to an herbicide suspected of causing birth defects and cancer.

In addition, Dr. Joseph Fedoruk, a UC Irvine toxicologist hired by the county to review the effects of the fire at Santa Clarita Greenwaste, said he has yet to see the medical files of the firefighters most seriously affected by the blaze.

Nonetheless, Fedoruk said he was not alarmed by what he’s found so far.

“If you look at this group, I saw no signal of unusual or massive contact with chemicals . . . that I could link to this fire,” said Fedoruk, who has spent nearly six months reviewing the smoky, two-week-long fire.

But another toxicologist who has treated many of the sickest firefighters challenged Fedoruk’s conclusions as flawed.

Fedoruk “admitted that he didn’t have all the data, and he still said everything looked normal,” said Gary Ordog, chief toxicologist at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, who attended Thursday’s presentation.

The presentation to about 30 firefighters at Station 73 was meant to quell fears that toxic substances in a four-acre, 90-foot-high debris mound burned and sickened scores of firefighters and neighboring residents during the fire in August and September last year.

Instead, it raised more questions and controversy.

Fedoruk said he initially was puzzled by test results showing the possible presence of cyanazine, an herbicide sold under the brand name Bladex, in the blood of 16 firefighters. The highest levels were found in a man who wasn’t at the blaze but who cleaned fire engines returning from the scene.

Cyanazine is a highly toxic pesticide that has been used only in the Central Valley of California, Fedoruk said. In addition, the blood tests showed the presence of the herbicide a month after the fire, long enough for the substance to have been excreted naturally.

Fedoruk said further analysis must be done on what he called “unusual” herbicide findings. However, he said further research has convinced him that thousands of other, nontoxic substances in the blood can cause false positive test results that make the substance appear to be in the blood when it is not.

Fedoruk said he tested his own blood for the chemical and found a level higher than that found in many of the firefighters. He said the lab that did the original tests will perform further tests to confirm the findings.

“There’s no reason to lose sleep at this point,” Fedoruk said. “I don’t think there’s evidence of overexposure to cyanazine.”

But Ordog, the other toxicologist present during Fedoruk’s talk, said he was troubled that no review has been done of data relating to the firefighters who showed high levels of other toxic substances, such as arsenic and lead.

Three firefighters have still not returned to work since the blaze, complaining of sleeplessness, headaches and difficulty breathing. Another 50 have filed workers’ compensation claims. In addition, several residents have filed a class-action lawsuit against the county and the city of Santa Clarita, claiming similar symptoms.

Ordog, who has treated more than 100 firefighters, residents and others affected by the blaze, said he has offered to share the information with Fedoruk. Fedoruk said Thursday that he felt unable to look at the files unless he had permission from individual firefighters.

Both sides said they planned to exchange information in the next few weeks.

“We’re going full-court press on this,” Fedoruk said. He added that he hoped to make a presentation to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, which ordered the review at Supervisor Mike Antonovich’s urging, in the next few weeks.

Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief Stephen Sherrill, who is overseeing the review, said he left Thursday’s meeting feeling that there was still more work to be done.

“I’m still in wait-and-see mode,” Sherrill said. “I still want to see when it all comes together to get all the facts.”