Available from NTIS. PB99-159915. "September, 1999." "This document is a reprint of a report of the same name published by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in September 1997."

The Housatonic River and nearby localized areas are known to be contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from a former electrical manufacturing facility in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Extensive environmental sampling has documented widespread contamination of sediments, floodplain soil, fish and other biota. The area on which the study focused comprises eight communities in Berkshire County, Massachusetts: Lanesborough, Dalton, Pittsfield, Lee, Lenox, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, and Sheffield. The overall goal of the HRA PCB Exposure Assessment Study was to identify possible patterns of PCB exposure and to measure serum PCB levels among HRA residents. The specific objectives of this study were: (1) to identify patterns of different activities offering a potential for exposure to PCBs - this was done by means of a household screening questionnaire administered to residents of 800 randomly selected households located within a half mile of the Housatonic River between Pittsfield and the Connecticut border; (2) to assess the relationship between reported potential exposure pathways and serum PCB levels among residents determined to be at the greatest risk of exposure. As a public service, the same household screening questionnaire and serum tests were also offered to a volunteer group of residents of South Berkshire County communities, regardless of their household location relative to the river. The responses of this group were also analyzed for reported potential exposure pathways and serum PCB levels.