Residents in the Chicago Heights Boulevard and Elmwood Park neighborhood in unincorporated St. Louis County did not get the answers they were seeking about potentially harmful health effects from TCE water contamination seeping into their homes as vapor through the ground.
TCE is short for trichloroethylene, a colorless, odorless industrial solvent used to remove grease from metal parts at Missouri Metals, a nearby manufacturing plant that has been located on Page Avenue in Overland since 1957. TCE is also an ingredient of some adhesives as well as in paint and spot removers.
As posted on the Saint Louis County Department of Health’s website, it received a report from the Environmental Protection Agency in December 2013 that detailed a serious environmental problem in the Chicago Heights neighborhood from the presence of TCE. The EPA report found that elevated levels of TCE exist in many places in the Chicago Heights neighborhood, requiring the immediate action of the public health community.
Earlier this year, the Saint Louis County Department of Health conducted a health survey in the Chicago Heights neighborhood to determine the health status of that community. This included current residents of the community and former residents as well.
Residents said there have been several cases of cancer and some birth defects among persons who live or formerly lived in the area. Residents had asked the St. Louis County Department of Health to investigate the TCE vapor plume levels and health effects of children and families living in the area.
TCE can cause heart defects in fetuses of pregnant women during the first trimester of pregnancy if enough exposure occurs, as well as autoimmune disorders, kidney damage and cancer of the liver, kidney and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Where permitted, the health department conducted surveys and tested exposure of TCE vapors that seep through the ground into basements and concrete slabs of residences.
A little more than a dozen women and men attended the session at First Baptist Church Elmwood a couple of weeks ago to discuss the health department’s study findings.
”The highest concentrations of TCE in the basements that were sampled falls very, very low on the scale,” said Rich DeClue, epidemiology manager at Saint Louis County Health Department.
Their study examined 134 residents or apartments, with 90 adult men and 44 children in the study who completed surveys. With the area being 96 percent African American, the health department compared the study group to unaffected groups of African Americans in the county and state to look for any differences.
“For heart disease, we found the rates were statistically higher than Missouri, Missouri black African Americans in St. Louis County,” DeClue said. “Because of this, we looked at exposures, so those who had been living in Chicago Heights at this time span and had been diagnosed with heart disease. It shows that they were not statistically different from Missouri, Missouri black African Americans or St. Louis County.”
In regards to cancer rates, DeClue said they did not see a statistical difference and the same was said for stroke, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. And there were no first trimester heart defects in the sampled population.
Diabetes rates were higher than reported for Missouri and St. Louis County. Obesity rates were high but not statistically different from others, DeClue said.
“Bearing the limitations of the study overall, the size of the sample, the overall statistics were difficult,” DeClue said. “The disease rates would need to be much, much higher to conclude that Chicago Heights residents had a greater risk of developing TCE-related conditions.”
Participation in the study by residents was voluntary, which points to the problem for health investigators – low participation. The sample size of participants was too small to make firm conclusions, said health department Director Delores Gunn, MD.
“Based on the information that the residents of Chicago Heights who were willing to participate and gave us, it was not enough information to say, or we could not prove a statistically significant scientific point between the current reason and the population of people who live here in Chicago Heights and TCE,” Dr. Gunn said.
“It is very difficult scientifically to prove that people have been exposed to something and that exposure has actually caused the disease, unless you see something very obvious in a population that’s unusual.”
During the Q&A session following the presentation, some of those who spoke suggested the sample area should have included neighborhoods east of Diehlman, not just those who lived to the west of Diehlman.
“Why is it that the people east of Diehlman are excluded?” one woman asked. There are over 30 homes on the other side of Diehlman. “In my family alone, there are eight people in my immediate or extended family who have died from one form of cancer or another.”
Some residents expressed concerns about TCE groundwater contamination possibly contaminating food grown in their gardens. Another resident suggested the vapor plume could have moved.
“Maybe they should have tested the park,” she said.
“I am so tired of all of you coming out here, and that goes for the EPA too –
and excluding people, that should not be done,” she added. “You can’t have people agreeing to work with you if you exclude them.”
Dr. Gunn explained that scientifically, they started with the area closest to the plume, which would include residents who were most likely to be affected and expansion of the sample area would need the Environmental Protection Agency.
The health department recommended several next steps, including vapor mitigation systems (some residents have already installed) for all residents and apartments; visiting the County health department with any medical concerns; and participation in health education and promotion activities, such as their Healthy Home program, for asthma management.
Residents were given summaries of the health department report and health officials posted the full 65-page report online as well as related documents to the TCE contamination. Find out more at http://www.stlouisco.com/HealthandWellness/TCE.
For more information on Missouri Metals, visit the Missouri Department of Natural Resources at http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/hwp/sfund/missourimetals-elmwoodpark.htm.
