[CPEO-BIF] Fort Edward (NY) vapor levels declared "safe"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[Reports like this make me nervous. Are these people safe because TCE
concentrations in their indoor air are below 5 micrograms per cubic
meter, the current NY Department of Health? I believe that threshold is
not adequately protective. Using traditional detection methodologies,
ANY measured TCE vapors in homes exceed levels based upon EPA's 2001
health risk assessment.  And detections above 1 microgram per cubic
meter typically trigger action (such as subslab ventilation) elsewhere,
based upon earlier toxicity studies. - LS]

Tests allay health fears 
Residents of homes near GE plant told carcinogen levels within standards 


By BRUCE A. SCRUTON
Albany Times-Union
April 9, 2005 


FORT EDWARD -- Tests have found evidence of a suspected cancer-causing
vapor in some homes near a General Electric plant, but none of the
levels violate state standards, according to results released Friday by
the state and GE.

The chemical is trichloroethylene, or TCE, a colorless liquid that GE
used as a solvent in its capacitor plant. That chemical has leeched into
the groundwater in the neighborhood of the plant.

Earlier this year, the state Department of Environmental Conservation
set out to do tests on the air inside homes and the ground under the
foundations. The state Health Department has studied cancer rates in
town and found they are not out of the ordinary.

...

For the entire article, see
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=349471&category=REGION&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=4/9/2005

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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