According to the Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY), on Tuesday, the ATSDR presented the results of an assessment to Endicott. ATSDR determined that the community’s theoretical cancer risk from exposure to certain chemicals (other than TCE) was low. Also:
The report concluded health risks from emissions were undeterminable prior to 1987, before stricter reporting and emissions standards took effect. But the public’s exposure to TCE was “probably higher” than to all other chemicals used during that time, it concluded.That may be an important consideration in follow-up research that will attempt to determine the cause of excessive rates of congenital heart defects, testicular cancer and kidney cancer in neighborhoods south and south west of the plant. The diseases have been associated with TCE exposure in other studies.
The report presented Tuesday at the First United Methodist Church, McKinley Avenue, could not quantify risks from TCE emissions from the plant because of incomplete documentation, according to the report. One document, however, offered an important clue. From 1965 to 1968, the plant used at least 7.35 million pounds of the chemical each year.
“That is greater than any other chemical for any other time period,” said John Wilhelmi, a chemical engineer who contributed to the ATSDR report.
Officials from the ATSDR, which joined the state Department of Health in the Endicott TCE investigation after the vapor intrusion problem was discovered in 2003, will know whether it can justify an even more intensive follow-up study in the fall. Some of that will depend on whether scientists think they have the scientific wherewithal — called “statistical power” — to document a causal relationship between cancers and chemical exposure.“We don’t completely understand combined exposure risks from multiple pathways (of TCE exposure),” [ATSDR's Greg] Ulirsch said. “Historic air exposures should be considered in the feasibility of performing an in-depth health study … We’re leaving that door open.”
Wow. Those last two sentences qualify for quote of the week.
Note: Though ATSDR says the report will be available online at www.atsdr.cdc.gov, we can’t seem to find it there. Once it’s posted, we’ll add it here.
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