Background

El Dorado Hills, California, is about 30 miles northeast of Sacramento in El Dorado County. Naturally occurring asbestos has been identified in rocks and soil in the vicinity of El Dorado Hills.

Sampling conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2004 found that people taking part in typical outdoor recreational activities could breathe in high levels of asbestos relative to when no dust- or soil-disturbing activities take place.

Community members asked the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) what this finding meant to their health and what they should do to protect their health.

In response to this request, ATSDR found that efforts to minimize exposures (“Limiting Environmental Exposure to Asbestos in Areas with Naturally Occurring Asbestos”) to naturally occurring asbestos in the El Dorado Hills area are warranted because a lifetime of exposure could increase the risk of asbestos-related diseases. ATSDR released draft findings in a health consultation on March 29, 2010 and accepted public comments until June 30, 2010.

Additional Resources

• Health Consultation - Public Comment Version [PDF - 3.81 MB]
• Brief Summary of Findings [PDF - 92 KB]
• Detailed Summary of Findings [PDF - 598 KB]
• Time Line of ATSDR Activities related to evaluation
• Naturally Occurring Asbestos
• ATSDR’s previous work in El Dorado Hills