DHSS Home  >>  Public Health Services

Select textsizemediumlargelarger

EC Electroplating/Garfield Chromium Groundwater Contamination Site
Garfield, Bergen County

Health Investigation Reports

The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) collaborate on Health Assessments and Consultations that attempt to:

  • identify actual and possible human exposure to contaminated sites, and
  • determine the potential health effects those exposures could cause.

October 2011
Garfield Health Consultation on Cancer Incidence [pdf 328k]

September 2010
A Public Health Advisory [pdf 860k] related to this site was issued by the federal ATSDR, and was based on a Letter Health Consultation [pdf 308k] issued by the NJDHSS.  The advisory and health consultation are based on data collected in 2010 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ATSDR, NJDHSS and the EPA caution residents in the area of the site to stay out of basements to prevent possible exposure to hexavalent chromium. Residents should contact EPA if their property has not been evaluated, and should contact EPA immediately if they see yellow dust or crystals in the basement of their homes, which may be signs of hexavalent chromium contamination.

April – May 2010
In May, NJDHSS, ATSDR and EPA held a community meeting in Garfield to discuss the findings of an April 2010 health consultation.  This consultation was based on earlier data collected in 2009 by the EPA.

Citizen’s Guides summarize of the technical Health Assessment and Health Consultation documents.  Citizen's Guide to the April 2010 Health Consultation:

Frequently Asked Questions [pdf 13k]

September 2007
Health Consultation September 2007 [pdf 639k]  -- Issued to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by NJDHSS and ATSDR.

Garfield Site Information

For more information on the Garfield site, visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency web page.

Resources on Chromium

ATSDR's Toxic Substances Portal page on chromium.

Case Studies in Environmental Medicine The ATSDR has developed instructional materials to help health care providers evaluate potentially exposed patients and better understand specific chemicals in the environment.

Back To Consumer, Environmental and Occupational Health Service  


Department of Health and Senior Services

P. O. Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360
Our Locations
Privacy policy, terms of use and contact form links State Privacy Notice legal statement Deparment's Feedback Page New Jersey Home

OPRA- Open Public RecordAct
department: njdhss home | index by topic | programs/services
statewide: njhome | departments/Agencies | services A to Z | FAQs
Copyright © State of New Jersey, 1996-

Last Modified: Friday, 06-Jan-12 17:02:23