Widely Used Chemical Might Have Cancer Link

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Widely used chemical might have cancer link
By Jim Morris, Globe Correspondent | January 11, 2005

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- Until fall 2003, workers in a Wilkes-Barre special-education school district gave little thought to the chemical they knew only as deglazing solvent.

Used to clean ink from two printing presses in the district's main administration building, the solvent routinely spilled onto the carpet. Its stench drifted through the air ducts. Still, it seemed nothing more than an annoyance -- until Antoinette Dominick was diagnosed with cancer.

Dominick is among roughly two dozen employees of Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18 who have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, lupus, or other diseases linked by studies to trichloroethylene -- or TCE -- the solvent whose vapors permeated the three-story building. Although about 200 people worked in the building over three decades, most who became seriously ill were long-time employees, said Sandy Ostrowski, president of the Educational Support Personnel Association, a local union. For this reason, suspicion fell on TCE, which can be harmful when inhaled or ingested.

Known for its metal-cleaning properties, TCE has been in American commerce for more than 80 years. For a long time, waste TCE was dumped indiscriminately; as a result, the solvent invaded wells in places like Woburn, Mass., where it was implicated in a childhood cancer cluster that inspired the book and movie, "A Civil Action." A settlement was reached in a lawsuit against one of the polluters before researchers could determine whether TCE had caused the cancers.

TCE has been shown to produce tumors in laboratory animals. If it is also found to cause cancer in humans -- a matter that remains unclear -- the ramifications could be huge: Ground-water cleanup and workplace exposure standards could be tightened, costing industry billions.

Nationally, the debate over TCE is intensifying. In August 2001, the Environmental Protection Agency published a draft health risk assessment of the chemical, concluding that it was "highly likely to be carcinogenic to humans." The draft met with a barrage of criticism, especially from the Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, the trade association that represents TCE manufacturers.

After decades of research, there is no compelling evidence that TCE causes cancer in people, said Paul Dugard, the group's director of scientific programs. "It does a good job [as a solvent] and can be handled responsibly," he said. Given the extent of ground-water pollution with TCE, he said, "we're lucky the material turned out to be as benign as it did."

The draft EPA report was sent to a science advisory board, which suggested corrections. That didn't quell the controversy, however, and the agency has asked a National Academy of Sciences panel to review the data. That effort is to begin soon.

Dr. David Ozonoff, a professor of environmental health at the Boston University School of Public Health, calls the EPA "cowardly" for failing to take a stand on TCE.

"There's a lack of political will at the highest levels," said Ozonoff, who has studied the solvent extensively and believes it to be dangerous. "They just don't want to mess around with this industry."

EPA spokeswoman Suzanne Ackerman disputed the charge, noting that "TCE is not the only chemical we've asked the National Academy to review. We're trying to get a consensus and the best possible review of our work because the decision that will be made [on cleanup standards] will affect a lot of people."

The academy's findings are not expected for at least a year. In the meantime, people in some parts of the country will continue to drink and bathe in TCE-contaminated well water. Print shops and other businesses will continue to use the solvent because it is cheap and effective.

An investigation into events at Intermediate Unit 18 may advance the state of knowledge on TCE. The inquiry began about 14 months ago, when Dominick was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Dominick, 53, had worked as a data-entry clerk in the poorly ventilated administration building for 30 years. Directly below her office were the presses, which were wiped down with TCE-soaked cotton pads once or twice a day.

"We were all sitting ducks," said Dominick, whose cancer is in remission. "It was just a sick building."

A consultant hired by the intermediate unit -- which provides special-education services to 12 school districts in northeastern Pennsylvania -- collected air samples inside the building a year ago and found TCE, but concluded there was no health risk.

Last May, researchers from Pennsylvania State University took another look, in response to a request from a student -- Ostrowski's daughter. They found significant levels of TCE and estimated cancer risks for the workers. The numbers were stunning.

One of the Penn State researchers, Richard Schuhmann, calculated that the cancer risk for someone who had worked in the building at least 10 years was 10,000 times higher than what the EPA considers acceptable. "Frankly," he said, "I've never seen that before."

Schuhmann presented the findings to a group of workers on June 19, a Saturday. By the following Monday, the building had been closed.

"We will reopen it. We just don't know when," said Michael Butera, an attorney for the intermediate unit, which plans to join any litigation filed by the workers against TCE manufacturers and distributors. "The two printing presses have been removed, and all the workers have been relocated." Architectural studies are underway, with the aim of improving ventilation.

The ominous developments within the administration building "may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of this type of exposure," said Jim Blackburn, a Houston environmental lawyer who represents the workers. It is safe to assume, he said, that the insidious harm done by TCE is "much more widespread than Wilkes-Barre, Pa."