Environmental beat can endanger reporters' health p.

By: Tony Case

WHEN ERIN HAYES warns environmental reporters that their beat can endanger their health, she speaks from experience.
The CBS News correspondent was working on a story at a dump site several years ago when a truck unloaded some barrels of the toxic acid polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanate on the premises. Although she was exposed to the smelly, molasses-like substance for only a few minutes, it caused her to contract chronic, recurring asthma.
Hayes related the story at a panel discussion "Covering Chemical Dumps and Chemical Spills: Get the Scoop Without Endangering Your Own Health" at the recent Society of Professional Journalists meeting in Baltimore.
She asked a room of around 100 conventiongoers how many would follow a firefighter into a burning building. Not surprisingly, only a couple of the newspeople raised their hands.
Hayes says she is amazed that, while most reporters have the good sense to stay out of a blazing inferno, many do not hesitate to expose themselves to less obvious but nonetheless harmful danger.
"Why do so many journalists at the scene of chemical spills or environmental hazards go beyond the boundaries set by safety officials and think nothing of it?" she wondered. "We truly believe, even though we're educated and we're journalists, that what we cannot see cannot hurt us."
Reporters can be hurt, though, and Hayes' account illustrates how even a brief venture into a dumping ground can haunt a reporter long after the story has been filed.
"It can happen when you least expect it, it can do greater damage than you can imagine at the time, it can be impossible for you to prove it was the culprit, and if you get in trouble by being irresponsible around it?especially when barriers have been set up?it's your own fault," she said. "Treat an environmental hazard like fire: It's every bit as dangerous, and usually much harder to recognize."
Environmental journalism is so risky that Rae Tyson, environment and energy editor for USA Today and vice president of the Society of Environmental Journalists, likened it to combat reporting.
"Since the Love Canal disaster in the late 1970s, persistent reporters have waded through leaking chemical dumps, snooped around illegal dump sites, and walked on contaminated ground in street clothes that no scientist or clean-up technician would ever consider without wearing protective gear," he told the SPJ.
Tyson cited several instances where journalists have unwittingly risked their health: There was the Canadian newspaper reporter who said he regretted having spent so much time in an asbestos mine without wearing protective clothing or a breathing mask. And the television cameraman in Binghamton, N.Y., who was horrified to learn that he had been exposed to the toxic chemical dioxin while covering an electrical fire.
"There is no scientific proof that environmental reporters face a higher risk of illness" than other journalists, Tyson pointed out?but "some veteran journalists are beginning to wonder," he added. Tyson says that a longtime colleague of his believes he could have contracted Hodgkin's disease as a result of his coverage of the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster.
Despite the evidence of how dangerous this type of reporting can be, Tyson noted, most news organizations do not have policies regarding chemical or radiation exposure. He added that most employers maintain they would not discipline anyone who refused an assignment for safety reasons, however.
Tyson told of a television cameraman in Chicago who would not go into a uranium plant after having learned that telephone repair people were not allowed into the structure because it had a high level of radiation. The producer told the cameraman that she respected his decision and did not reprimand him.
Journalists might find these accounts frightening, but at least they can learn from the mistakes of others. There are several ways for environmental reporters to protect themselves, "mainly by using common sense," Tyson says. Also, they can read "Covering Hazardous Materials Emergencies: Important Tips for Reporters and News Crews," which is distributed by the Washington, D.C.-based Chemical Manufacturers Association; carry protective clothing in the trunks of their cars; and talk to their employers about getting specialized physical exams.
And a final word of warning from Tyson: "Always stay upwind."