Residents of Tarpon Springs and Holiday, two west coast Florida cities, were informed last week that radioactive slag, a byproduct of the now defunct Stauffer Chemical facility, does not pose a significant health risk. Excess slag was used to construct roads and concrete foundations in the area. Residents were concerned because the substance is known to emit gamma radiation. Health officials with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, monitored sixty residents' radiation exposure for thirty days. Results were found to be within acceptable limits.

The Stauffer plant, now a government Superfund site, operated from 1947 to 1981. Local residents remain weary of the site and fear that students at nearby Gulfside Elementary School may have been exposed to toxic emissions while the plant was open.