The Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY) reports:
Workers at Sanmina SCI should see their doctors if they are concerned about exposure to traces of trichloroethylene gas recently detected in the factory, a local health official said Tuesday.
Johannes Peeters, director of the Tioga County Department of Health, said there are health risks associated with trichloroethylene (TCE) exposure, but they vary from person to person. He could not characterize risks to 750 workers at the printed circuit board plant off Route 17C, where samples taken earlier this year found TCE gases at concentrations up to 40 times higher than a guideline recently set by the state Department of Health.
“Anytime people are exposed to anything, the first line of defense is (to) go see your doctor,” Peeters said.
Gary Litwin, director of the state Department of Health’s Bureau of Environmental Exposure Investigation, said a ventilation system, under construction, will eliminate the problem.
[...]
The state began applying a much stricter guideline for TCE in October 2003 after scientists found gases from the solvent, spilled into the ground decades ago, were entering businesses and homes near industrial sites in the Southern Tier.
“There’s a reason they changed the standards. There must be a risk associated with it,” Peeters said.
Read the full story here.
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