[CPEO-BIF] Carbon Tet in outdoor air

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[This article states that carbon tetrachloride (unlike PCE and TCE) 
degrades slowly in the air, so it's unclear whether the elevated 
background levels are coming from underground plumes or from past air 
emissions. - LS]


Toxic 'carbon tet' lingers in air near schools


By James Bruggers
USA TODAY
May 19, 2009

For much of the 20th century, carbon tetrachloride was regarded as a 
miracle chemical: It was used to put out fires, degrease machines, kill 
bugs, dry-clean clothing and even help stamp collectors detect forgeries.

From the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s, most of those uses were 
discontinued for health and safety reasons. Then came what appeared to 
be the final blow: Thirteen years ago, carbon tetrachloride and other 
chemicals that were eating up the Earth's ozone layer were banned or 
restricted under the Montreal Protocol. The treaty, ratified years 
earlier by the United States and 193 other countries, was designed to 
protect the layer of the atmosphere that filters the sun's dangerous 
ultraviolet radiation.

....

USA TODAY monitored for toxic chemicals, including carbon tetrachloride, 
in the air outside 95 schools in 30 states. Carbon tetrachloride was 
detected at 70 of the schools. Exposures ranged from levels that could 
raise the risk of 70 additional cancers in a population of
1 million if people were exposed to them throughout their lives to a 
lower risk of four additional cancers in the same population.

....

For the entire article, see
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-05-19-carbontet_N.htm

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
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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