UPDATE (7/3/18, 10:40 AM EST): Denver7 is unable to comment on CDPHE’s presentation to the Erie Board of Trustees in June because they were unaware of it. They are considering future coverage now that it has come to their attention. They did note they have reached out to CDPHE during their initial story.

Original Post

During a public hearing last week, Colorado state health regulators presented to the Erie Board of Trustees and recommended against the use of volatile organic compound (VOC) blood testing. The warning about the reliability of such tests comes as a handful of anti-fossil fuel activists in the community have attempted to use blood tests as evidence of harmful impacts of oil and gas in the community.

Recall that the issue of VOC blood tests took center stage last month when one local news outlet reported on an Erie resident calling attention to results of a blood test of her son that showed elevated numbers that she attributed to oil and gas operations in her community. At the time, EID noted several concerns about the blood test and the reporting, including that the person that conducted the test was not a licensed doctor. Denver7 did do a follow-up on their original story responding to our criticism, but the story only led to even more questions.

So now that state health regulators have spoken directly to elected officials in the community at an open meeting, we would expect that Denver7 would want to share this key information with its viewers. More than a week after the meeting, however, they have not. We reached out to Denver7, but so far they have not responded.

Read the full blog post on EIDHealth.org