October 23, 1999
Damschroder asks questions for residents' health concerns
By Carol Bogart
Staff Writer
State and federal health officials agree several contaminants released by burning tires are potentially cancer-causing.
Out of concern for residents both within and outside his district, State Rep. Rex Damschroder, R-Fremont, presented the Ohio Department of Health with a list of questions in the aftermath of the Kirby Tire fire.
In what is being investigated as an arson fire, millions of tires burned Aug. 22 at Kirby's Tire Recycling on SR 231 east of Sycamore. The effects of the fire and the resulting contaminants are still being investigated by state EPA and health officials.
Damschroder requested a written response to his questions.
Many of them dealt with benzene. According to Ohio EPA's file on the emergency response to the tire fire, benzene in contaminated tire fire runoff was one chemical in Sycamore Creek that contributed to the high chemical-oxygen demand, which was said to have suffocated thousands of fish.
Microbiologist Paul Flathman says benzene is the chemical that will travel farthest, fastest in groundwater. The ODH says benzene "can be absorbed through people's skin" but says, "few people have exposure to liquid benzene."
A more likely route of exposure, according to the ODH, is inhalation. It says, "Some studies suggest that human exposure to (breathing) benzene is associated with a type of leukemia. However, this information is too limited to show that breathing benzene at concentrations as low as 1-10 parts-per-million can cause cancer." Ten parts-per-million or less was the level EPA said air monitoring detected during the Kirby tire fire.
Inhalation of benzene can also occur, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, when benzene contaminated water is heated for various household uses. ODH, again noting limited human studies, says, "Studies using animals show that breathing benzene can harm the developing fetus."
According to ODH, "It is hard to know what levels of benzene can cause specific health effects. The kinds and severity of human health problems that occur with exposure to benzene depend on many factors."
ODH says those factors include:
- How much benzene you were exposed to,
- How long you were exposed,
- How many times you were exposed,
- How you were exposed (drinking or breathing).
Damschroder's question list includes: "The EPA discovered benzene, toluene and xylene, all petroleum-related toxins, in the water in Sycamore Creek. What health threat to residents around Sycamore Creek and in the entire Sandusky River Basin exists as result of these chemicals leaking into the river system?"
The department answered: "For the protection of the public, the Ohio Department of Health has advised the Wyandot County health department to issue a precautionary contact advisory for Sycamore Creek. This means that ODH recommends that people not swim, wade in, or consume fish from the stream. ODH will continue to evaluate the results of sampling of this stream and withdraw this advisory if and when it is appropriate." ODH added, (in bold typeface), "About 50% of the national exposure to benzene comes from tobacco smoke."
On Sept. 15, the department promised residents concerned about exposures a health screening. In its later one-on-one meeting with Damschroder, he says ODH said it wouldn't do anything "unless people complained." According to the ATSDR, it is now too late to detect benzene exposure through simple blood and urine tests. Of xylene and toluene, ATSDR says they are not carcinogens, but says chronic exposure can result in brain damage.
Damschroder found the health department's answer unsatisfying and says, "They're (ODH) not going to do anything unless there's a problem. If somebody gets cancer, they'll say, "Oh, we should have done something."
Damschroder also asked: "What will be the health impacts if people drink water contaminated by these byproducts of combustion over the next14 years (estimated time by EPA to clean the site)?"
ODH said, "The time needed to clean up a site is not necessarily the same time as the exposure period. The exposure period is the length of time that a person is in contact with a contaminant. The clean-up is the amount of time that it takes to clean up the site. If no contaminants leave the site, then there is no exposure time to off-site residents, regardless of how long it takes to clean up the site."
Ohio EPA's site investigation is continuing.