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Pollutants Continue to Show Up in Air Tests: Acrolein, Formaldehyde Found at High Levels

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 December 2005, 09:00 CST

By MIKE KELLER, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss., The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

Dec. 20--Air quality tests continue to show high levels of two pollutants in Gulfport, Hancock County and Pascagoula, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The data reflect air conditions up to the middle of November, when acrolein, a pungent irritant created from combustion engines and burning debris, showed up at levels greatly exceeding EPA limits for almost a month straight.

"At the concentrations measured, temporary irritation of the eyes, nose and throat could have resulted," the statement released with the data said.

EPA scientists set acceptable chemical limits for a person being exposed over a whole year, the time they believe cleanup operations will continue from Katrina.

At 47 Maple St. in Gulfport, those levels, as average concentrations over a whole day, were as high as 211 times over EPA limits.

In Pascagoula, measurements indicated acrolein levels 173 times above limits.

A monitor at Stennis Space Center also measured acrolein levels over 120 times above limits.

In the middle of October, formaldehyde showed up in the air at almost seven times the limit. On Nov. 19, it showed up again at five times EPA limits.

The agency said that burning fuel and oil refineries are the largest sources of formaldehyde.

Dwight Wylie, chief of the office of air pollution at Mississippi's Department of Environmental Quality, said he has been watching the numbers but is not quite sure what they mean yet.

"We are measuring levels in Tupelo that are not that different," he said. "In Detroit and Atlanta they are measuring similar levels. We're beginning to think it is a nationwide thing."

But the air pollutant levels showing up on EPA monitors may be just one indication of environmental health hazards that South Mississippi residents face with cleanup and rebuilding efforts.

"These compounds are just indicators of other pollutants in the air that you are not testing," said Dr. Alfred Munzer, the former president of the American Lung Association. "Unfortunately, by the time people become aware of the pollutants, the levels are already much too high."

Munzer said that anyone experiencing coughing, wheezing or shortness of breath should be checked by a doctor.

"We found that some of the largest sources of pollution after 9/11 were the diesel trucks that came into New York City to clean it up," said Janice Nolen, the director of national policy for the ALA. "Diesel exhaust is very dirty. People along truck routes may be exposed to extraordinarily high levels of pollution that won't necessarily show up on monitors."

Dr. Alfred Munzer, former president, American Lung Association

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.)

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