| |
| |
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arsenic discovered at Hiawatha & 28th Street in 1994
by DENNIS GEISINGER
A study to measure arsenic levels in 100 children who live in the South Minneapolis neighborhoods near the old Chicago-Milwaukee Corp. (CMC) Heartland Lite Yard Site, ranging from ages 3 to 10, will be conducted in late May or early June, according to a draft press release from the Minnesota Dept. of Health (MDH) recently obtained by Southside Pride.
According to the news release, “The study will only include children because they have the greatest chance of being exposed to the arsenic in the soil ... since they are more likely to play outside and to get soil in their mouths.” Urine samples will be collected during warm weather months because of the greater likelihood of contact with contaminated soil.
Affected neighborhoods include East Phillips and parts of Corcoran, Longfellow, Midtown Phillips, Powderhorn, Seward and Ventura Village, near where arsenic-containing pesticides were manufactured and stored between 1938 and 1963.
“The testing for arsenic levels so far has been done independently by those living in the affected area, so we don’t have any data about arsenic levels in people,” said MDH biomonitoring program planner Michonne Bertrand.
The study will collect two urine samples from selected children with supplies provided by the MDH. After samples are collected at home, they can be sent in for testing at the health department laboratory.
Results for arsenic levels will be given to the children’s caregivers. Tests showing elevated levels of arsenic will generate advisories for further medical consultation along with information about determining all of the ways a child might be exposed to arsenic (including the soil, green-treated lumber, foods, dietary supplements and cigarette smoke) and for steps to reduce future exposure.
Children eligible for the study live where soil testing showed an arsenic level of over 20 parts per million in many yards. Beginning in 2001, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) conducted soil investigations in the residential neighborhoods to the northwest of a former CMC pesticide storage site at Hiawatha Avenue and 28th Street East. Arsenic contamination was discovered on the property in 1994 during Hiawatha Avenue Corridor reconstruction.
In August 2007, officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed that by now nearly all of the Phillips area properties identified as “high risk” for arsenic contamination would be cleaned up.
According to the MDH news release, “All of the eligible households will receive a letter in the mail from MDH describing the project and asking them to fill out a form about the children living in the home. From the forms that are returned, 100 children will be selected at random and asked to be part of the study.”
“Children may be more susceptible to health effects of inorganic arsenic than adults,” according to information provided by the EPA. Some studies suggest that children may be less efficient at converting inorganic arsenic to the less harmful organic forms, and that long-term exposure to arsenic in children may result in lower IQ scores.
Evidence has shown that inhaled or ingested arsenic can injure pregnant women or their unborn babies, although studies are not definitive, says the EPA. Studies with animals showing large doses of arsenic causing illness in pregnant females have also shown effects like low birth weight, fetal malformations, and even fetal death. Arsenic can cross the placenta and has been found in fetal tissues.
Other studies have shown that ingestion of inorganic arsenic can increase the risk of skin cancer and cancer in the lungs, bladder, liver, kidney and prostate. Inhaling inorganic arsenic can increase the risk of lung cancer. Agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and the EPA have classified inorganic arsenic as a carcinogen.
“[The study’s] a good way to determine exposure to a chemical because it indicates the amount of the chemical that actually gets into people, rather than the amount that could potentially get into them,” said Minneapolis Council Member Cam Gordon (Green-Ward 2) in his blog.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
