First of all, thanks to Elizabeth Whitman writing in Phoenix New Times/08 Nov 2019 to bring this study to attention.
"New data from the Environmental Protection Agency indicate that concentrations of ethylene oxide, a colorless and carcinogenic gas, are higher in Phoenix than anywhere else in the country.The data, released Wednesday, came from 18 air quality monitoring stations in nine states across the country, from Seattle to St. Louis to Camden, New Jersey.
Phoenix, whose notoriously hazy air already fails to meet certain federal air-quality standards, was the lone city represented twice on that list. . ."
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OK. So what's the problem with the new data?
1. The numbers represent six-month averages from October 2018 to March 2019, and so the ability to draw conclusions and extrapolate from them is limited.
2. The EPA only used 2 monitoring stations in the entire Phoenix area. However, both measured well above the national average
3. The agency is not monitoring for the precise source of these pollutants.
". . . The EPA released the data as part of ongoing efforts to reduce hazardous air pollutants from "miscellaneous organic chemicals," including cutting certain ethylene oxide emissions by 93 percent, the agency said.
It had evaluated the risks posed by this group of chemicals, it added, and it found them to be "unacceptable. . .
"We believe that there is no immediate, short-term risk from the levels of ethylene oxide found in these limited air monitoring data," it said in a news release.
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> According to the National Cancer Institute, ethylene oxide smells slightly sweet, and people — typically those who live or work in or near industrial facilities — are most commonly exposed to it when they inhale or ingest it.
When inhaled, ethylene oxide is carcinogenic, the EPA has concluded.
The higher the concentration of ethylene oxide in the air, the higher a person's risk of developing cancer.
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The Environmental Protection Agency might want to pay more attention to this particular area in southeast Mesa where a number of industrial and manufacturing industries are located.
You can see them clearly marked on the map. Hard to tell if any monitoring stations are located close enough to the sources.
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. . . Erin Jordan, a spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, said that the department and the Maricopa County Air Quality Department were aware of the data, and that ADEQ had reviewed a list of facilities that received air-quality permits from the county that also emitted ethylene oxide.
Elizabeth Whitman is a staff writer for Phoenix New Times
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