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Tests: Vapor Levels Too Low

Posted on: Tuesday, 30 August 2005, 00:00 CDT

Aug. 29--TALLEVAST -- Contradicting residents' fears that their health is endangered from a 131-acre plume of toxic pollution under their community, state and local health experts report no evidence of poisonous indoor vapors in Tallevast.

The health experts' report states that the levels of contaminants picked up in the indoor air tests, performed more than a year ago, are too low to be the likely cause of illness.

But some environmental experts question whether investigators did enough tests under the right conditions to reach that conclusion.

Preliminary results of the Indoor Air Testing Exposure Report have been discussed for several months, but the final document was only recently approved by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which oversaw the study.

Dr. Timothy Varney, Tallevast residents' independent technical consultant, has repeatedly questioned the methodology used in the vapor intrusion.

His skepticism is echoed by Lenny Siegel, director of the Center For Public Environmental Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog group based in Mountain View, Calif. Siegel questions the timing and numbers of air samples taken. He recently visited Tallevast to discuss TCE exposure with leaders of FOCUS -- Family Oriented Community United Strong, the advocacy group representing residents.

When the test was conducted a year ago, the investigating team from the Florida Department of Health sampled the air in three homes and a community center.

None of the residents who participated were asked to close their homes up for a 24-hour period prior to the test -- a precaution Siegel said is necessary to gather accurate samples.

Residents also should have been instructed to keep their windows shut and their air-conditioning or heating systems turned on, Siegel said.

Those conditions, said Siegel, are critical to good sampling because heating and cooling systems pull vapors from the ground into homes. Open windows can allow air currents to dilute samples.

One of the houses tested had so many cracks and openings, closing the doors and windows would have made no difference in the results, said Charles Henry, environmental supervisor for the Manatee County Department of Health who assisted in gathering the air samples.

Under those conditions, any sampling is meaningless, Siegel said. And because TCE levels can rise and fall with drought and rainy weather, as well as seasonal changes, at least two testing periods over a 12-month period are necessary to reach any conclusion on vapor intrusion.

Water table levels can affect vapor studies, agreed Robert P. DeMott, a Tampa toxicologist conducting a health risk study in Tallevast for Lockheed Martin. High water tables prevent the rise of vapors, while low water tables allow vapors to escape, so the timing of the studies and soil conditions are important factors in getting reliable results, DeMott said. He has not yet reviewed the Tallevast vapor intrusion report.

Randy Merchant, leader of the the state's public health assessment in Tallevast, said the vapor study was designed as a screening to determine if more extensive air testing was necessary.

The team wanted to determine what vapors on a typical day were in homes over the highest-known concentrations of TCE, or trichloroethylene, in the groundwater contamination.

TCE is an industrial a solvent that has been linked to liver, kidney and heart disease, impaired immune system function and birth defects.

One of the sites tested was outside of the known groundwater contamination area for comparison.

Any special requirements such as closing up the homes for a 24-hour period would have set up atypical conditions, Merchant said.

On Aug. 18 and 19, 2004, team leader Susan Bland and Henry collected 16 air samples from the four sites. The samples were collected in Summa canisters, a testing device resembling a bowling ball that trapped air samples during an 8-hour cycle. Three canisters were used at each site to provide air samples over a continuous 24-hour period. Bland's team also collected one grab sample in the late afternoon at each of the four locations.

The canisters were set to test for 61 volatile organic compounds, including TCE.

No levels of TCE were detected, the report states. None of the levels of other contaminants found were significant enough to cause illness, Merchant said.

Given the lack of significant results, the team recommends no future action, the report states.

Varney and Tallevast residents have demanded more vapor tests be done under more stringent conditions.

Lockheed Martin, the former owner of the beryllium plant and responsible party for cleaning up the contamination, has verbally agreed to to consider paying for that testing. Lockheed has asked FOCUS for a proposal listing the sites to be tested and their preferred consultant to do the testing.

FOCUS is still working on that proposal, said Wanda Washington, vice president.

Lockheed's latest report to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection concludes that vapor intrusion is not an issue in Tallevast, based upon the state's report.

That conclusion is premature, Washington said, and ignores the fact that too many Tallevast residents have been sick for too long.

Health experts agree TCE is dangerous. Breathing small amount of TCE may cause headaches, lung irritation, dizziness, poor coordination and difficulty concentration. Breathing large amount of TCE may cause impaired heart function, unconsciousness and death. Drinking large amounts of TCE can cause nausea and liver damage. Even drinking small amounts can, over time, lead to kidney and liver damage.

No one knows how long the plume of contamination has been migrating off-site from the old beryllium plant, but tests conducted over the past year found concentrations of TCE in drinking water wells and irrigation wells used by Tallevast residents living near the facility.

One of the most dangerous routes of exposure is taking showers with TCE-laden water, because of the vapors contained in the mist from hot water, according to Varney.

Neither the state's study nor Lockheed's latest assessment of the Tallevast contamination takes into consideration the historical exposure residents may have incurred over the decades the beryllium plant was in operation.

Until historical exposure is addressed, Washington warned, the real health risks facing Tallevast residents will continue to be ignored.

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Source: The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Fla.)

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