[CPEO-BIF] TCE in outdoor air, Endicott, NY

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[Last year the National Academies of Science recommended that EPA 
extrapolate the cancer risk using a linear model, which among other 
things means there is no concentration so low that it doesn't pose a 
cancer risk - the risk just goes down in proportion to the 
concentration. If that's true, then the overall risk from exposing 
10,000 people to .5 micrograms TCE per cubic meter is the same as 
exposing 1,000 people to 5 micrograms per cubic meter. In either case, 
there is a need to clean up our air, if practical.

The half-life of TCE in air in 3 to 8 days, so it must be coming from 
someplace. Though one can't ventilate away the risk of outdoor exposures 
to TCE, the .5 micrograms  per cubic meter found in Endicott's outdoor 
air - as well as similar levels in other communities - suggests a need 
to halt the industrial use of TCE, stop selling TCE products, and 
accelerate the cleanup of known plumes. - LS]

Study: TCE venting shows little impact on air in Endicott
Data gathered by IBM consultant

By Tom Wilber
Press & Sun-Bulletin (NY)
April 25, 2007

ENDICOTT -- Hundreds of vents blowing chemicals from a polluted section 
of ground south of the former IBM plant are not significantly affecting 
outdoor air, according to a study by an IBM consultant overseen by state 
environmental officials.

Levels of trichloroethylene -- an industrial solvent associated with 
illnesses ranging from cancer to brain damage -- were generally found 
within acceptable limits at six outdoor monitoring stations in a 
400-acre area populated by homes and businesses south of the 
micro-electronics plant on North Street.

On average, TCE was detected in concentrations below 0.5 micrograms per 
cubic meter of outdoor air, according to the report, filed in the George 
F. Johnson Memorial Library.

Based on that information, officials are not requiring further study of 
the vents, designed to divert the flow of chemical gases away from 
basements and foundations of about 450 properties and into the air outside.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070425/NEWS01/704250333/1006
--


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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