Toxic waste sites may cause health problems for millions

Living near a toxic waste site may represent as much of a health threat as some infectious diseases, a study in three developing countries finds.

Researchers analyzed 373 toxic waste sites in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, where an estimated 8.6 million people are at risk of exposure to lead, asbestos, hexavalent chromium and other hazardous materials. Among those people at risk, the exposures could cause a loss of around 829,000 years of good health as a result of disease, disability or early death, the team reports May 4 in Environmental Health Perspectives.

In comparison, malaria in these countries, whose combined population is nearly 1.6 billion, causes the loss of 725,000 healthy years while outdoor air pollution claims almost 1.5 million healthy years, according to the World Health Organization.

Although scientists have known for years about the risks of pollutants at toxic waste dumps, no one had quantified the health effects in this way, says study coauthor Kevin Chatham-Stephens, a pediatrician at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

For developing countries, “I think they’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg,” says William Suk, a microbiologist and public health expert at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Morrisville, N.C. “That scares the hell out of me.”

In 2010, researchers with the Blacksmith Institute, a nonprofit environmental health organization, identified the toxic waste sites, such as lead battery recycling centers and former tanneries. For each site, the investigators determined the main pollutant; whether the pollutant is in the water, soil or air; and how many people might regularly come into contact with the polluted area.

Chatham-Stephens and colleagues plugged those data into a computer program that estimates how much of a material should be in the human body given a particular exposure. The team then used another program to estimate how many people should be afflicted with particular diseases or disabilities linked to a toxic material. Lead, for example, can cause mild mental retardation in children, anemia and cardiovascular disease. The researchers determined the number of lost healthy years by weighting each disease based on its relative severity.

Lead and hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen, accounted for more than 99 percent of the lost healthy years. The team estimates that the three countries could house an additional 5,000 toxic waste sites that weren’t studied, affecting another 35 million people. In total, they suggest, the studied and unstudied toxic sites could result in more than 4.3 million lost healthy years.

Almost 65 percent of the affected people are children and women of child-bearing age, Chatham-Stephens says, providing cause for concern: “In utero and early childhood are the stages of life that are most vulnerable to toxic insults.”

In a related study, the team looked at 200 toxic waste sites in 31 developing countries. Nearly 780,000 kids younger than age 4 who live near these sites may be exposed to lead. The team determined that exposures could be high enough to cause mild mental retardation in 6 out of every 1,000 kids, Chatham-Stephens reported May 6 at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

The results are “sobering,” says Howard Hu, a physician and epidemiologist at the University of Toronto. The next step, he says, is to directly measure the level of toxicants in people living near these sites and the diseases that affect them. He also points out that the study only considered one pollutant per site and only eight materials total, so future work should try to look at more toxicants and how they interact to influence health.

The actual health impacts could be even higher, Suk notes, because many people living near these sites may also suffer from nutritional deficiencies and infectious diseases. Having a weakened immune system may make these individuals more vulnerable to environmental threats, he says.

Story By: Erin Wayman

Original Link: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/350205/description/Toxic_waste_sites_may_cause_health_problems_for_millions

A Toxic Kiss?

Are you giving a toxic kiss with leaded lipstick? 

“Testing of 32 commonly sold lipsticks and lip glosses found they contain lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum and five other metals — some at potentially toxic levels, according to researchers at the University of California-Berkeley’s School of Public Health,” per a USA Today article.  (5/2/13)

“Prior research has also found lead in lipstick, including a December 2011 survey of 400 varieties by the Food and Drug Administration that found low levels the agency said pose no safety concerns. This UC study looked at more metals and estimated health risks based on their concentrations and typical lipstick use.

“Just finding these metals isn’t the issue.It’s the levels that matter,” says co-author S. Katharine Hammond, professor of environmental health. She says some of the toxic metals are occurring at levels that could pose health problems in the long run. “This study is saying, ‘FDA, wake up and pay attention,’ ” she says.” 

For more information, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/02/toxic-chemicals-lipstick/2125325/

Delaware Well Tainted with Exotic Toxin Lnked to Superfund Site

A hard-to-remove toxic chemical that surfaced in a deep new Artesian Water Co. well south of New Castle has heated up debate over financial responsibility for fouled public water supplies and the effectiveness of a more-than-30-year Superfund cleanup effort.

State and federal officials say they are confident the high levels of the likely carcinogen 1,4 dioxane, found in an Artesian well under Llangollen Estates, escaped from the Delaware Sand & Gravel Landfill federal Superfund site, nearly a mile to the north off Grantham Lane.

Artesian shut down the well before it went into regular use, but officials acknowledged Monday that lower levels of the same chemical were detected last year in other wells that are part of the utility’s large regional supply complex around Llangollen Boulevard.

It was the second time since 2000 that a relatively exotic pollutant from the DS&G Superfund site has crept into Artesian wells at problem levels. The earlier episode, involving a rare but more easily removed chemical, cost Artesian more than $1 million and upset residents who said they should have received earlier notification.

Although the Environmental Protection Agency has yet to set a limit for 1,4 dioxane, peak concentrations in the new well were 30 times higher than the state drinking water limit in California, and nearly 300 times higher than Massachusetts’.

“Based on our first look through this latest situation, there’s going to likely need to be an additional form of treatment installed,” said Joseph A. DiNunzio, Artesian executive vice president. “Our view is our customers should not be bearing the burden of situations like this, where there are responsible parties.”

Inability to bring the well on line will disrupt Artesian’s water storage plans for this year’s drought needs, DiNunzio said. Although systemwide needs will be met, “every single source is important” to meeting northern Delaware’s requirements, he said.

DS&G was listed as a national priority Superfund site in 1982. The former quarry was used for the disposal of industrial chemicals beginning in 1969 and was shut down after a state enforcement action in 1976. By that time, one three-acre section had 13,000 chemical-filled drums and another area had mixed chemical wastes buried 30 to 40 feet deep.

A cleanup trust, financed by parties responsible for the waste, operates the site and finances work there. Removal and groundwater protection efforts, the EPA noted, have only been “somewhat successful.”

Officials of the trust could not be reached Monday, but Vincent Dell­Aversano, the landfill’s original owner, said on Sunday that landfills and other groundwater contamination sources can be found across the area.

“They still only have theories,” DellAversano said. “They positively can’t pinpoint exactly where the contamination is coming from.”

“What happens next is Artesian had better put a bunch of filter systems in or learn not to drill in contaminated areas,” Dell­Aversano said. “I figure my grandson’s grandson might get it [the land] back.”

Edward Hallock, manager of the Division of Public Health’s drinking water program, said late Monday that his agency has no current plan to set a state limit for 1,4 dioxane. He said they are preparing new regulations requiring utilities to list unregulated contaminants like 1,4 dioxane in their regular consumer confidence reports.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is a chronic contaminant and there’s no immediate threat to public health, because it’s been a short-term exposure to residents who would have received water from those wells,” Hallock said. “We don’t want the exposure to continue.”

The EPA identifies 1,4 dioxane as an industrial solvent and stabilizer used in a variety of industries, including some cosmetics. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has set 6 parts per billion in groundwater as the trigger point for assessments of risk and cleanup needs.

The EPA reported levels up to 89 parts per billion in Artesian’s new well. Other wells already in use, Hallock said, had from “1 to 5 or 6” parts per billion.

Although still under study for long-term risks, the chemical’s toxic effects are believed to center on the liver and kidneys, and possibly other organs and systems. An EPA general health advisory summary released last year noted a potential risk of one additional cancer death per 10,000 people after lifetime use of water with 35 parts per billion of dioxane, or 10 to 100 times the preferred-risk goal of many state and federal programs.

Expenses just for past landfill leak episodes have increased the cost of water from the Llangollen-area field by 30 to 35 cents per thousand gallons, DiNunzio said. While mainstream industrial carbon filters were used for the earlier contamination, more costly fixes could be required for the 1,4 dioxane.

Janet Swick, a longtime Llangollen Estates resident who lives near the shut-down well, said she had noticed increased activity in the area in recent months. Water pollution and landfill leaks are a concern in the neighborhood.

“It sounds like there are a lot of things that are coming to light now that we should have known about before,” Swick said.

Story by: Jeff Montgomery

Original Link: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130430/NEWS08/304300039/Delaware-well-tainted-exotic-toxin-linked-Superfund-site

California Decides Chemical BPA is Toxic

California on Thursday became the latest state to place restrictions on the chemical known as Bisphenol-A and declare it a reproductive toxicant.

The chemical, commonly known as BPA, is found in hard plastic bottles, the cans of food and beverages, sales receipts and dental sealants.

Growing research suggests that BPA, believed to be found in the bodies of 90 percent of the U.S. population, is an endocrine disruptor linked to infertility and other harm.

Consumer health advocates have pushed the state Environmental Protection Agency for years to recognize that BPA causes birth defects.

Dr. Sarah Janssen, a senior scientist at the San Francisco chapter of the Natural Resources Defense Council, praised the state’s decision.

“They haven’t backed down, and I think that’s to the benefit of public health in California,” she said.

The state agency is targeting BPA under Proposition 65, which publishes lists of chemicals that cause cancer or birth defects. When products in California contain hazardous amounts of a listed toxicant, they are required to carry warning labels. BPA could now show up on the warning labels of hundreds of household items.

The law does not ban the compounds, but consumer backlash can lead them to be phased out of the market.

A state panel of health experts first considered recognizing BPA as a reproductive hazard in 2009 but decided there wasn’t enough evidence.

This time, the state based its decision on a federal report that expressed concern about BPA’s effects on development of the prostate gland and brain, and behavioral effects in fetuses and infants.

The American Chemistry Council is suing the state to keep BPA off the list. Spokeswoman Kathryn St. John noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says BPA is “safe at the very low levels that occur in some foods.”

Radioactive Guinea Pigs

“This is a public health policy only Dr. Strangelove could embrace,” said Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) Executive Director Jeff Ruch,  This week, the White House approved a radical radiation cleanup rollback that will threaten people near radioactive accidents. Cancer deaths are expected to skyrocket after radiological accidents with the harmful new “cleanup” standard.

“The White House has given final approval for dramatically raising permissible radioactive levels in drinking water and soil following “radiological incidents,” such as nuclear power-plant accidents and dirty bombs. The final version, slated for Federal Register publication is a win for the nuclear industry which seeks what its proponents call a “new normal” for radiation exposure among the U.S population, according Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

 Issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, the radiation guides (called Protective Action Guides or PAGs) allow cleanup many times more lax than anything EPA has ever before accepted. These guides govern evacuations, shelter-in-place orders, food restrictions and other actions following a wide range of “radiological emergencies.” The Obama administration blocked a version of these PAGs from going into effect during its first days in office. The version given approval late last Friday is substantially similar to those proposed under Bush but duck some of the most controversial aspects:

 In soil, the PAGs allow long-term public exposure to radiation in amounts as high as 2,000 millirems. This would, in effect, increase a longstanding 1 in 10,000 person cancer rate to a rate of 1 in 23 persons exposed over a 30-year period;  In water, the PAGs punt on an exact new standard and EPA “continues to seek input on this.” But the thrust of the PAGs is to give on-site authorities much greater “flexibility” in setting aside established limits; and resolves an internal fight inside EPA between nuclear versus public health specialists in favor of the former. The PAGs are the product of Gina McCarthy, the assistant administrator for air and radiation whose nomination to serve as EPA Administrator is taken up this week by the Senate.

Despite the years-long internal fight, this is the first public official display of these guides. This takes place as Japan grapples with these same issues in the two years following its Fukushima nuclear disaster.

 For more information, go to http://www.peer.org/news/news-releases/2013/04/08/white-house-approves-radical-radiation-cleanup-rollback/

Toxic Flipper Dies

A polluted dolphin in Brooklyn was “killed by government incompetence,” wrote Andrea Peyser’s in her New York Post article, January 28, 2013.

“It broke the heart of the hardest New Yorker. Even mine. Just one living soul in this city was slain during the nine days ending Friday, during a bone-chilling cold snap that kept the guns still. The Gowanus Canal Dolphin. The marine mammal was a victim of another kind of homicide. The dolphin was killed by acute bureaucratic neglect and incompetence. There was no saving the poor, lost soul. Rest in peace.

The species is called the common dolphin. But there was nothing common about this gentle creature. The 6-foot miracle floated Friday morning to a spot near Union Street, in the revolting and polluted Brooklyn canal. It’s a 1.8-mile garbage dump stretching from Gowanus Bay to New York Harbor.

Like a long, filthy puddle, the canal is strewn with more than a century’s worth of foulness. Old tires, used syringes, grocery carts.

Pesticides. Metals. Cancer-causing PCBs. The Gowanus has long been bestowed with the reputation of being the spot where the mob disposes of bodies, which are meant to virtually dissolve in the putrid water.

In the late ’90s, a photographer I know found a corpse floating in the murky canal. Cops told him the dead man was probably killed by a prostitute. Nothing to see here.

And yet the rancid waterway sits between the multimillion-dollar houses of star-choked Park Slope (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Patrick Stewart) and fame-friendly Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Boerum Hill (Norah Jones, Michelle Williams). How authorities could allow the Gowanus to exist in its rank condition for a day, let alone 100-plus years, is a made-in-New York mystery. (The thing was built in the mid-19th century, and deteriorated as quickly as people could invent chemicals to dump.)

Maybe the dolphin, sick or hurt, sensed he was in friendly company. No one knows where the animal came from. The age is unknown. The beast was male, said biologists.

A crowd formed for hours as the dolphin, its dorsal fin bleeding, swam in circles, gasping for air. Clinging to life. I’m not what you would call an animal person. But the mesmerizing sight of the dolphin swimming in a nasty realm not known to support amoebas, let alone a magnificent creature, gave me hope.

Rescue workers arrived. People prayed. Shortly after 5 p.m., a lone man stepped into the ice-cold water, risking infection or disease. He stroked the dolphin, gently. The animal seemed to like it. The man did what rescue workers would not.

Police and experts from the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research decided against going in the cesspool of a canal. They waited instead for the tide to rise at about 7 p.m., allowing the animal to swim to safety without stressing out, or grossing out, workers.

“We’re concerned about the animal, but we’re concerned about our safety first,” biologist Julika Wocial told The Post. By 5:30 p.m., the dolphin stopped moving. Just after 6, Wocial said, it had breathed its last.

Yesterday, biologists planned to conduct a necropsy, or animal autopsy, to find out what happened Could the tragedy have been prevented? Maybe not. It took decade upon decade of dumping, paired with official sloth, to make the canal unsafe for rescue workers to enter. The animal was doomed from the start.

In 2010, the federal government declared the canal a Superfund site, angering Mayor Bloomberg, who wanted the city to clean it up. But nearly three years after the feds took over, nothing.

Just this week, the government got around to holding public hearings about cleaning up the canal, over 10 to 12 years, at a cost to taxpayers of $504 million.

What took so long? As the morons blathered, a dolphin died. Rest in peace, big guy. Sadly, you won’t be the last creature to suffer.”

Protestors – Red Carpet in Trenton for “Fracky Awards”

“If there were an award for destroying rural communities and endangering drinking water supplies, it would certainly go to the American Petroleum Institute, which uses its clout to spread disinformation about the dirty, polluting practice.”

Today activists protested one of several planned regional workshops by the American Petroleum Institute in Trenton, NJ, countering the oil and gas industry association’s event discussing the development of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) with a recommendation of their own: ban fracking entirely. Protestors handed media and passersby “swag bags” filled with information on the risks associated with fracking and staged an award ceremony for the Frackies. Read more …

Toxic Vapor Health Problems

A new study links congenital heart problems, low birth weight and other birth defects to soil toxic vapors from industrial contaminants that have lurked in the groundwater beneath Endicott in upstate New York. The NYS State Department of Health found infants born to mothers living in a 70-block area, south of the former IBM manufacturing facility, had health problems at higher rates than those born in the rest of the state.

The area is contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE), two industrial solvents that have been connected to health problems, including cancer. Although the dangers of TCE and PCE have been relatively well-documented, most research has focused on exposure through drinking water — which is not believed to be a problem in Endicott. “This is the first that we know of that involves the soil vapor intrusion pathway,” said Department of Health research scientist Steven Forand, who co-authored the study looking at people impacted by the Endicott plume between 1978 and 2002.  For more information, contact NYS DOH at 518-474-4394. 

Chemical Industry Wants Dioxin Delay

Hasbro Eliminating PVC from Packaging

Move is Part of Long-Standing Commitment to Excellence in the Areas of Product Safety, Manufacturing Ethics, Environmental Sustainability; Details Outlined in Company’s First CSR Report http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hasbro-announces-commitment-to-eliminate-pvc-from-core-product-packaging-2011-12-08

CHEJ has sent letters to Hasbro over the years urging them to phase out PVC in their toys and packaging.  Additionally, a few years ago investors in the Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN) filed a shareholder resolution at Hasbro on PVC and sustainability.  The resolution got 44.8% of the vote.  The resolution is here:

http://iehn.org/resolutions.shareholder.detail.php?pageid=21&fcompany=Hasbro

Hasbro’s decision is also apparently a ripple effect of our retailer work.  CHEJ convinced Wal-Mart to phase out PVC in private label packaging.   Hasbro was apparently influenced by Wal-Mart who’s been pressing suppliers to phase out PVC packaging.  Wal-Mart’s role is mentioned in this Plastics News story: http://www.plasticsnews.com/headlines2.html?id=23919&channel=349