June 15, 2006

The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) has released a final Public Health Consultation detailing an investigation conducted at the Saline High School and has found no apparent public health hazard.

The consultation – conducted following a series of mystery ailments and evacuations in the final week of September 2005 – discusses the epidemiologic investigation and analytical results of air and water sampling conducted at the high school throughout September and October.

As part of a multidisciplinary team that included medical experts, school officials, clean-up contractors, engineering and construction experts, and local, federal and state agencies, MDCH examined the data to determine if there was a chemical agent responsible for the reported health effects. The overall conclusion of the multidisciplinary team was that an “outbreak” of mass psychogenic illness was the most likely explanation for the signs and symptoms reported by the students.

Saline High School is a new high school located near the town of Saline in Washtenaw County, approximately 10 miles south of Ann Arbor. The high school found itself the center of national news stories following the events of September 2005.

Print or digital copies (CDs) of the report and an executive summary are available from MDCH. The report is also available on the Department website at http://www.michigan.gov/mdch-toxics under the Health Assessments and Related Documents link. If you have questions or concerns about this Public Health Consultation, please contact Erik Janus at 517-335-9084 or at januse@michigan.gov.

The MDCH Division of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology conducted the Public Health Consultation for Saline High School under a cooperative agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Information concerning the human health effects of exposure to environmental contaminants can be found on the ATSDR web page at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html.