Health Resources | ROCKY FLATS DOWNWINDERS

If you have health concerns you might want to contact one of the following:

Your primary care practitioner
The county health department for the county in which you currently live
A local community health center

Regardless of where you seek medical care, the following checklist might be useful:

1. Write down your symptoms in a list along with the dates/times you experience them. Take the list with you so you don’t forget to cover everything.

2. Tell the medical care provider about your specific concerns in having grown up downwind of Rocky Flats and any family history of illnesses. If you’re concerned about cancer, please tell the provider about specific concerns. Medical Providers generally don’t have the time to address non‐specific general concerns so please narrow down your list as much as possible.

3. Please keep in mind that not all medical conditions can be linked directly or indirectly to your place of residence or where you grew up. Your medical care provider can only offer you their best professional objective medical advice.

4. Think about specific questions you want to ask. Please keep in mind that each doctor’s time per patient is limited (15 minutes maximum) so try to be brief and to the point.

5. If you live the Front Range and do not have insurance and/or do not have a primary care provider, you may contact your county public health department or a local community health center.

Review the attached information on Ionizing Radiation. Individuals who lived near Rocky Flats may have been exposed to ionizing radiation from the plant. You can take this information with you to your primary care practitioner or county health department.

County Health Departments

Tri-County Health Department
Serving Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties
6162 S. Willow Drive, Suite 100
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
303-220-9200

Boulder County Public Health
3450 Broadway
Boulder, CO 80304
303-441-1100

Broomfield Public Health and Environment
6 Garden Center
Broomfield, CO 80020
720-887-2200

Denver Public Health Department
605 Bannock St., MC 2600
Denver, CO 80204
303-602-3700

Denver Environmental Health
200 W. 14th Ave.
Denver, CO 80204
720-865-5401

Jefferson County Public Health
645 Parfet St.
Lakewood, CO 80215
303-232-6301

For other Colorado County Health Departments, go to https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/find-your-local-public-health-agency

Community Health Centers
Clinica Family Health – Federal Heights Clinic
8300 Alcott Street, Suite 205, Westminster, CO 80031
(303) 650-4460

Clinica Family Health – Lafayette Clinic
2000 West South Boulder Road, Lafayette, CO 80026
(303) 650-4460

Ionizing Radiation
There is little doubt that radiation exposure can cause cancer. This has become clear from studies of groups such as the survivors of the atomic blasts in Japan, where the risks of certain cancers such as leukemias and thyroid cancers were higher than normal, as well as from studies of people exposed to medical radiation and in some workplace settings. But it’s often hard to estimate the likelihood that a person exposed to radiation will develop cancer as a result of being exposed. Many factors influence this risk, including the type, amount, and route of radiation exposure. For example, people can be exposed to radioactive elements internally if they inhale or ingest them, as well as being exposed to external radiation sources. In addition, when exposures have occurred many years in the past, it’s often hard to know how much or what types of radiation exposure a person had.(2)

Persons exposed to radiation fallout, carbon tetrachloride and other chemicals from plutonium processing at Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons plant may be at risk for developing:
Leukemia and lymphoma
Multiple myeloma
Brain cancer
Pharyngeal or salivary gland cancer
Thyroid cancer
Breast cancer
Lung cancer
Cancers of the digestive system (esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon)
Pancreatic cancer
Cancer of liver, bile ducts or gall bladder
Ovarian cancer(1)
Bone cancer
Thyroid cancer
Urinary tract cancer (kidney/renal, pelvis, urinary bladder, and urethra)(3)
Autoimmune disorders (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, etc.)
Birth Defects(2)

References
Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program (RESEP) Clinic. National Jewish Health. https://www.nationaljewish.org/programs/prevention/miners-clinic/resep-clinic.aspx
Ionizing Radiation – American Cancer Association – Cancer.org http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/radiationexposureandcancer/index
Diseases Associated with Ionizing Radiation Exposure. US Department of Veterans Affairs – http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/radiation/diseases.asp