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There’s An Ethylene Oxide (EtO) Health Emergency in South Memphis, Tennessee

Photo credit: Karen Pulfer Focht/Tennessee Lookout

By Sharon Franklin.

For Rose Sims and Lettie White, residents of South Memphis, Tennessee, despite it being a sunny, spring day in their neighborhood, they make a point to stay inside as much as possible. This is because of the dangerous amounts of a toxic, cancer-causing gas, ethylene oxide (EtO), that is being emitted by the Sterilization Services of Tennessee, a medical equipment sterilization facility. EtO is linked to leukemia, lymphoma, breast cancer, and stomach cancer, and recently EPA announced that the colorless and odorless gas is 60 times more toxic than they previously thought. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) recently reported on this environmental injustice issue.

Earlier this year, EPA officials held a meeting and cautioned that the Sterilization Services of Tennessee facility was creating an “‘elevated’” cancer risk for people living nearby.” At this meeting, scientists presented maps showing what areas face the highest risks, which, unfortunately for Ms. Sims and Ms. White, were where their homes fell. After receiving this information, Ms. White said she“was devastated;” “I used to go outside to plant my garden and to cut my yard. I can’t do that anymore.”  Ms. Sims said shewas afraid, frustrated, scared. “Now I go in and out of my house, but as far as cutting yards and just hanging out and enjoying and barbecuingand being with my family, I would never.”In the months since the meeting, Ms. Sims’ frustration and fear has grown while local health officials have refused to act.

How Has Sterilization Services of Tennessee and Shelby County Health Department Responded? 

For months, they have ignored calls to reduce the plant’s EtO pollution from the Memphis City Council, the Shelby County Commission, community organizations, and families living nearby. The plant continues to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even though similar facilities in other states have taken voluntary action to reduce ethylene oxide. 

What is EPA’s Position on Ethylene Oxide Protections?

In April, EPA took a key step toward better regulating EtO emissions in announcing a draft rule that aims to reduce fugitive EtO emissions by 80 percent. This rule would force facilities that releaseEtO to implement already-available technologies to better protect nearby communities. The draft rule was open for public comment until June 27, 2023. One comment to note is from the American Hospital Association (AHA) who offered comments stating, “With device sterilization capabilities already at or near capacity across the country, we strongly encourage the agency to consider employing its traditional three-year implementation timeline to the standards if made final. This will allow these facilities more time to come into compliance prior to enforcement in an effort to help prevent the closure, temporary or permanent, of any of these facilities.”

What is the Community Saying?

KeShaun Pearson from Memphis Community Against Pollution said, “Sterilization Services of Tennessee is continuing this legacy of environmental injustice by ignoring community members’ pleas for relief… And by allowing the Sterilization Services facility to continue pumping toxic gas into the air, the Shelby County Health Department is sending the message that it’s okay to inflict harm on Black communities, because of discriminatory practices like redlining that allowed polluters to take over historic and vibrant Black neighborhoods.”

While the Shelby County Health Department drags its feet, residents like Ms. Sims can’t help but wonder if it is because Mallory Heights is in a predominantly Black neighborhood that is surrounded by polluting industrial facilities. Would the Sterilization Services of Tennessee still be releasing EtO if it was in another part of the county?   

SELC and Memphis Community Against Pollution sent a letter to Shelby County Health Department urging the agency to use its emergency powers to force the facility to lower its EtO emissions. However, the health department refused to act, even though “Memphis Muni. Code § 9-12-9(A) states where there is not a generalized condition of air pollution, the Health Officer may issue an emergency order if he ‘finds that emissions from the operation of one or more air contaminant sources is causing imminent danger to human health or safety.’ Id. § 9-12-9. The SELC and the Memphis Community Against Pollution concluded that the Shelby County Health Department not only can act, but must act to protect Memphis families from a health emergency.

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Climate Change Worsens Toxic Exposures

Flooded neighborhood
Photo credit: AP/ Jason Dearen

By Leila Waid.

Climate change is one of the leading environmental challenges facing our world today. This will wreak havoc on all aspects of society and in some instances it already has from increasing droughts and wildfires to stronger storms and hurricanes. But one consequence of climate change that gets overlooked is its effects on toxic waste sites.   

Toxic waste sites are those where the waste disposed is dangerous to human health. Waste is defined as being hazardous when it “may leach hazardous concentrations of toxic substances into the environment when disposed.” The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies such hazardous locations as a Superfund site. Currently, there are 1,336 active Superfund sites – meaning there is still toxic waste present at the site. There are also 38 proposed locations that could become a Superfund site.

These Superfund sites can be found in almost every state, excluding only North Dakota. The Northeast region of the country has the highest concentration of waste sites – with New Jersey coming in at number 1 with a total of 115 sites. On the West Coast, California has the most at 96 sites.

How can climate change impact all these different waste sites? One example is that flooding and heavy rain can free debris from coal operations that would then contaminate the groundwater in surrounding areas. That contamination can then further spread through storm surges or rising sea levels. After that has happened it becomes more difficult to track and clean the toxins.

Wildfires are another concern for toxic waste sites. For example, California has a Superfund site with extremely high levels of asbestos. A “worst-case” scenario for this site includes a scenario where the wildfire smoke carries off the asbestos to hundreds of miles away –  impacting thousands of people in the vicinity who might inhale the toxin-contaminated smoke. 

What can you do to act on this issue today? Contact your representative and let them know you support bill H.R. 1444, titled Preparing Superfund for Climate Change Act of 2023. The bill would require that clean-up efforts consider the impacts of climate change when deciding the proper clean-up techniques.

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Toxic Tuesdays

Vinyl Chloride

Toxic Tuesdays

CHEJ highlights several toxic chemicals and the communities fighting to keep their citizens safe from harm.

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Vinyl Chloride

Vinyl chloride is a chemical belonging to the family of compounds called organochlorides, which include other highly toxic chemicals including trichloroethane and the infamous pesticide DDT. Vinyl chloride is a man-made chemical that presents itself as a colorless and highly flammable gas under standard temperatures and pressures. This chemical used to have numerous industrial applications including as an aerosol propellant and refrigerant but concerns over its toxicity have relegated its use to the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Vinyl chloride is also created as a byproduct of the combustion of tobacco.

Exposure to high levels of vinyl chloride is extremely hazardous and can cause death. Inhalation of even small quantities of vinyl chloride has been observed to cause dizziness, a feeling of inebriation, and even loss of consciousness. The effects of prolonged exposure to vinyl chloride include lung irritation, breathing complications (especially for people with asthma), central nervous system problems, and cancer. Vinyl chloride is classified as carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and is significantly associated with multiple forms of liver cancer, brain and lung cancers, lymphoma and leukemia.

Exposure to vinyl chloride occurs primarily in occupational settings – in PVC and vinyl chloride factories – or near landfills where other organochloride compounds accumulate and ultimately break down into vinyl chloride.

Recently, vinyl chloride has been in the news since the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio spilled over 1 million pounds of this chemical into the surrounding environment. Authorities handled the spill by burning the vinyl chloride to prevent an explosion (remember that vinyl chloride is extremely flammable), but by doing so they released dioxins – chemicals that are created from the combustion of vinyl chloride and other organochlorides. These dioxins (chemicals we wrote about in last month’s Toxic Tuesday) are extremely toxic and are linked to cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, infertility in adults and impairment of the immune system.

CHEJ was asked to help the community in East Palestine and our Science Director, Stephen Lester, recently participated in an expert panel where he noted the improper handling of the vinyl chloride spill. CHEJ will continue helping the community in East Palestine through our community organizing training and our technical assistance capacity.

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Pyrethrins

Pyrethrins are a class of naturally occurring compounds derived from chrysanthemum flowers. They have been

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Why Can’t We Transport Safer Chemicals Through Our Communities?!

Photo credit: Gene J. Puskar / AP

By Sharon Franklin.

By now everyone has heard or read about the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio (or as the residents call it “EP”) due to a Norfolk Southern Railway train derailment and later chemical spill. Daily we are learning more about how this freight train derailment has polluted local waterways and released hazardous contaminants into the air.  As horrible as this incident is for the residents of EP, it also emphasizes the need for having safer chemicals that are being transported. This is a wake-up call for rethinking the kind of harmful chemicals that unfortunately fuels and destroys our local and national economies. This issue is highlighted in depth in a recent article by Scientific American, “Chemistry Urgently Needs to Develop Safer Materials.”

Regrettably, in this EP derailment incident, the freight train contained multiple cars containing combustible or flammable, petroleum-based chemicals including benzene and butyl acrylate, which are also precursors to plastics and harmful chemicals like 2-butoxyethanol (a common ingredient in paint strippers and cleaning products). The chemicals in this incident include carcinogens, mutagens, reproductive system and organ toxicants and skin and respiratory irritants that can affect the long-term safety of drinking water and soils. 

While the focus today is on this derailment, what is often overlooked is that EP is only one of more than 20,000 hazardous materials transport incidents that happens each year. More than 11,000 facilities across the United States make use or store hazardous chemicals in amounts that are harmful to either people or the environment, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Another unfortunate fact is that many of these facilities are in low-wealth communities of color. Similar incidents of derailments have brought attention and must now have the effect of inducing chemists, the chemical industry and the companies that rely on chemical products to create safer and more sustainable chemicals, processes and materials.

So, Can We Develop Safer Chemicals?   

The short answer could be yes, if we can bring chemists and engineers together with health scientists to better understand, evaluate and eliminate environmental and health hazards at the design phase of chemicals and chemical processes. A diverse group of chemical experts for the European Union has recently developed a definition of sustainable chemistry for safe and sustainable by design chemicals and materials. The publication concluded it is possible for the “development and application of chemicals, chemical processes, and products that benefit current and future generations without harmful impacts to humans or ecosystems.” But, despite the growing interest in sustainable chemistry, the industry and some governments have not fully embraced it.

Transitioning to Safer Chemicals  

In conclusion, transitioning to safer and less hazardous chemicals and products is easier said than done, because there is little incentive to transition, because of the significant costs of research and development. So, why can’t we come up with chemicals that do the same job, but are not hazardous? That is the dilemma. As the article states “If we want to end dangerous chemical incidents that make people and ecosystems sick, we need to address our dependence on these chemicals and the manufacturing processes needed to make them.” As further noted in the article, “[F]or every community that has been or could be affected by hazardous chemical incidents, we need long-term sustained actions and investments to prevent such disasters by replacing hazardous chemicals with alternatives that are fundamentally safer to manufacture, transport and use.”

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Toxic Tuesdays

Artificial Christmas Tree

Toxic Tuesdays

CHEJ highlights several toxic chemicals and the communities fighting to keep their citizens safe from harm.

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Artificial Christmas Tree

It’s the Christmas season, and because real pine trees can be cumbersome and high maintenance, many families use artificial Christmas trees. While artificial trees seem like an easy and sustainable alternative, the materials they are made out of can pose health risks. Like many consumer products, artificial trees are often made with a type of plastic called polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC releases gases into the air that can cause dizziness and irritation to the eyes, nose, and lungs.

PVC is often treated with plasticizers to make it flexible, and the most common plasticizers are a class of chemicals call phthalates. Phthalates shed off of the plastic products they’re used in, released as gases into the air and dust onto surfaces. Exposure to phthalates in these forms is associated with diabetes, obesity, and reproductive disorders. It is particularly dangerous for the development of children’s brains and may cause permanent cognitive impairment, autistic behaviors, and ADHD.

PVC is also often treated with lead as a stabilizer. Over time this lead sheds off of the PVC, creating lead dust that can accumulate on the surfaces in your home. Inhalation or ingestion of lead is extremely dangerous. In adults it can lead to cardiovascular, reproductive, and kidney dysfunction. Like phthalates, lead exposure is particularly dangerous for children’s development – it can cause permanent neurological damage including sensory loss, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and anxiety. Because of their small size, even small amounts of toxins that may be innocuous for adults can pose serious risks to children.

How much of a health risk are these PVC trees in the US? A study found that 50 million households use PVC trees and estimated that this means 57,500 children may be exposed to high lead levels because of these trees. Although it may seem like the health risks from artificial Christmas trees is low, because of the potential permanent effects on children’s development, families should avoid using artificial trees made with PVC. Through consumer education and advocacy campaigns, many companies explicitly advertise products as being free of PVCs, and artificial Christmas trees made with alternative materials are widely sold. If you are already using an artificial tree with PVC this year there are some ways to mitigate the risks: limit physical contact with the tree, avoid getting lead dust on presents by putting them some distance away from the tree, and don’t use a household vacuum to try to clean up lead dust as this will cause the lead particles to become airborne.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We all deserve a safe and healthy holiday season free of toxic chemicals.

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Pyrethrins

Pyrethrins are a class of naturally occurring compounds derived from chrysanthemum flowers. They have been

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Toxic Tuesdays

Toxic Toys

Toxic Tuesdays

CHEJ highlights several toxic chemicals and the communities fighting to keep their citizens safe from harm.

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Toxic Toys

The holiday season often means more food, family, and shopping. As we look for gifts for our loved ones, we have never had more resources at our disposal to make sure we are making safe, healthy decisions. And even with advances in science and technology, many consumer products are still manufactured with toxic chemicals known to cause serious health problems like cancer, developmental delays, and reproductive defects. These harms are especially concerning when they involve children’s products. Because of the way children play, they are not only exposed to chemicals in their toys through inhalation and absorption, but through ingestion as well. And because of their size, small concentrations of chemicals can have significant effects on children’s bodies, even if those concentrations are deemed safe for adults. These chemicals can have permanent, devastating consequences on children’s developing tissues and organs, For instance, phthalates are a class of chemicals common in many plastic products including toys. Exposure to these chemicals is associated with problems in reproductive development as well as brain development, including ADHD, autistic behaviors, and cognitive impairment.

In some cases, agencies like the Food and Drug Administration have been slow to incorporate new scientific information into their assessments of chemicals. In other cases, agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency have weakened regulations and actions when companies use known toxins in their products. Through this bureaucratic sluggishness and active deregulation, the federal government has failed to ensure that consumer products are only made with safe materials.

Thankfully, there are consumer advocacy groups that investigate the chemicals in common products and educate the public so they can make informed purchasing decisions. For example, the Mind the Store campaign published a retailer report card in 2019 where they rated the overall safety of products from 43 common retailers. It allows people to learn about chemicals that are used in products from retailers in many different sectors including children’s products, apparel, groceries, electronics, beauty products, and furniture. To produce their safety rating for each retailer, Mind the Store used 14 criteria including transparency, oversight, accountability, third-party standards, and continuous improvement over time, and people can see how each retailer fares along each criterion. Similar information on harmful chemicals common in toys is available from the Environmental Working Group and Green America. These consumer guides and educational resources are a powerful way to make informed decisions when buying children’s products.

In response to increased consumer advocacy and awareness about toxins in toys and packaging, many retailers now tout that their products are not made with certain harmful chemicals. While this transparency is a crucial way to keep our kids safe as we buy gifts for the holidays, only federal regulation and oversight can truly ensure that all toys are free of toxic chemicals.

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Pyrethrins

Pyrethrins are a class of naturally occurring compounds derived from chrysanthemum flowers. They have been

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Toxic Tuesdays

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

Toxic Tuesdays

CHEJ highlights several toxic chemicals and the communities fighting to keep their citizens safe from harm.

< Back to Toxic Tuesdays

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of man-made chemicals that were used in industrial and commercial settings for their properties as electrical insulators. Their use was banned in 1979 but products containing them may still be in use. Despite this ban, there are several ways PCBs are still released into the environment today: through poorly maintained hazardous waste sites containing PCBs; leaks from electrical equipment; and accidental or deliberate dumping of PCB waste into sites not capable of handling them.

PCB release is a problem because the EPA classifies PCBs as probable human carcinogens, meaning there is a likely association between exposure to PCBs and cancer, including melanoma, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, breast cancer and liver cancer. Exposure to PCBs also has non-cancer health effects including immune system suppression, deficits in learning and neurological development, and reproductive system effects such as decreased birth weight and birth defects.

The residents of Minden, WV know about the release of PCBs all too well. The company Shaffer Equipment used PCBs in building electrical substations for the local coal mining industry. In storing and disposing of equipment, they poured PCB-containing liquid onto the ground, stored fluid in waste containers that later leaked, and even sprayed PCB oils on roads to combat dust. The EPA found that Shaffer also dumped contaminated equipment and oil into abandoned mines, and while they removed some contaminated soil and recommended constructing a cap over the site, cleanup was never completed and PCB-contaminated oil is still present there.

The effects have been devastating for the people of Minden – it’s a town of under 300 people, and a local physician has verified over 100 cases of cancer among current and former residents. Recently, residents got the EPA to test for PCB contamination throughout the town, but the community isn’t stopping there. They have a list of demands that includes having their homes bought out; lifetime health monitoring; and a PCB health clinic. CHEJ is working with these residents, helping them with information about PCBs and their fight for a safe and healthy community.

Source: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/09/07/superfund-activists-donald-trump-minden-wv-400921

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Pyrethrins

Pyrethrins are a class of naturally occurring compounds derived from chrysanthemum flowers. They have been

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Toxic Tuesdays

Creosote

Toxic Tuesdays

CHEJ highlights several toxic chemicals and the communities fighting to keep their citizens safe from harm.

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Creosote

Creosote is a large mixture of chemicals that is used as a wood preservative in the United States, as well as for roofing, aluminum smelting, and road paving. Houston’s Fifth Ward has been pinpointed as a Cancer Cluster: an area that has a “greater than expected number of cancer cases,” largely due to the community’s exposure to creosote from the Union Pacific railroad site in Houston’s 5th Ward.

Creosote is released into soil and water systems and may take many years to break down. Due to groundwater contamination, creosote can make its way into drinking water systems, putting entire communities at risk for exposure. Creosote may cause irritation of the respiratory tract and can lead to stomach pains and burning of the throat and mouth. The International Agency for Research on Cancer and the EPA have determined that creosote is likely a carcinogen, meaning that exposure to the chemical can likely cause cancer.

CHEJ has been working with the Texas Health and Environment Alliance (THEA) to help the communities of Houston’s 5th Ward further understand the extent of the contamination and what different health investigations can do to propel THEA’s goals of raising awareness of their exposure to creosote. CHEJ and THEA have been hosting informational Zoom town halls about Houston’s 5th Ward Cancer Cluster. You can learn more about Houston’s Cancer Cluster by watching Fault Lines’ mini documentary or by visiting THEA’s Facebook page to learn and listen in on their past and future town hall meetings or learn how to get involved.

To learn more about creosote, click here.

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Pyrethrins

Pyrethrins are a class of naturally occurring compounds derived from chrysanthemum flowers. They have been

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Toxic Tuesdays

Ethylene Oxide

Toxic Tuesdays

CHEJ highlights several toxic chemicals and the communities fighting to keep their citizens safe from harm.

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Ethylene Oxide

Ethylene Oxide (EtO) is a colorless gas with a slightly sweet odor. It is used in making a variety of products including antifreeze, plastics, detergents, and adhesives. It is also used as a sterilizer for medical equipment and others that cannot be sterilized by steam. Ethylene Oxide can be found in the air surrounding industrial factories including chemical manufacturers and sterilizers.

Exposure to Ethylene Oxide is extremely dangerous. The EPA classifies it as a class 1 human carcinogen; there are no safe breathing levels. EtO is known to cause breast cancer and leukemia, and children are especially susceptible to its effects. The EPA states that EtO significantly contributes to elevated cancer risks in some areas of the US. CHEJ has been working with the Concerned Citizens of Lake County who are fighting cancerous EtO emissions in Lake County, IL (part of suburban Chicago). There are 2 facilities, 3 miles apart, that emit EtO: Vantage Specialty in Gurnee and Medline Industries in Waukegan. Vantage is a chemical production company and Medline is a medical sterilization company. Both are located within ‘light industrial’ business parks. We discovered the companies’ emissions in Fall 2018, via a breaking news Chicago Tribune article regarding 3 EtO emitters in the Chicago area. The third emitter, Sterigenics (Willowbrook, IL) was not in our area and closed in Fall 2019 due to community, media, and legislative pressure (and rumored back-door industrial competitive pressure from Medline).

There are over 150,000 Lake County residents and over 100 schools/daycares within 5 miles of both Vantage and Medline, along with numerous large Gurnee family tourist attractions (Gurnee Mills, Six Flags Great America/Hurricane Harbor, and Great Wolf Lodge waterpark). Medline also has 4 warehouses in our area that are potentially used to off-gas EtO-sterilized products in an unregulated manner. Medline is currently building a 5th Lake County warehouse. Many area doctors tell us they see far more cancer cases in Lake County than in other Chicagoland areas.

Our goal is to end EtO emissions in Lake County’s highly populated, economically and racially diverse area.  There are large apartment complexes approximately 0.25 miles from Medline and an elementary school 2000 feet away from Vantage.  The census tracks near Medline appeared on the most recent NATA map for 90-100% cancer risk. There is no information for areas near
Vantage on the same NATA map due to a ‘coding error,’ however in 2014 Vantage emitted 6,412 lbs of EtO gas, more than either Sterigenics or Medline during that same period. For more information about dioxins, check out our website: http://chej.org/

Or, visit https://www.epa.gov/hazardous-air-pollutants-ethylene-oxide/background-information-ethylene-oxide#why

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Pyrethrins

Pyrethrins are a class of naturally occurring compounds derived from chrysanthemum flowers. They have been

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