Published in the Asbury Park Press
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON -- A comprehensive study of toxic chemicals in the state's air shows that levels of 25 chemicals such as benzene and formaldehyde have exceeded accepted cancer risk levels in some parts of the state.
But state officials stress that the analysis from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is based on 1990 figures, and that current levels of air toxins aren't as high.
The study is called the Cumulative Exposure Project, and is an effort by the federal agency to find the parts of the country that have the highest exposures to toxins in the air, food and water, and to measure the impact on health.
The data was gathered from a variety of sources, including vehicle emissions, incinerator emissions and Toxic Release Inventory reports submitted by industrial polluters.
Of the 148 chemicals studied, 25 had levels in New Jersey higher than accepted "cancer benchmarks" -- the level of exposure over a lifetime that would cause cancer in one out of 1 million people.
Ten of the chemicals were found throughout the state; the other 14 were in some parts of the Garden State.
Levels of benzene, found in gasoline, were 30 times higher than the benchmark; for 1,3 butadiene, also in gasoline, the level was 50 times higher.
The state Department of Environmental Protection has been analyzing the figures, and officials said that while the report is a good indicator of air toxicity levels in 1990, there were a few inaccuracies. For example, the projections for New Jersey include emissions from three incinerators that were never built.
"There will probably be strong public reaction to the results of this study, since it will show relatively high risks in much of the state," DEP Commissioner Robert Shinn wrote in a memo to Gov. Whitman.
Environmentalists were disturbed that the release of the study had been delayed.
"The data show a significant health risk throughout the state," said Bill Wolfe, policy director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club. "We think the DEP should publicly disclose the data and take immediate steps to address the problem."
EPA officials said the agency is updating the report by analyzing data from 1996.
"We should have results by the end of the year, and we think they will be better," said Joann Heid, chief of air quality evaluation for DEP.
"The overall levels of air toxins are about half of what they were then," said DEP spokesman Peter Page.
Source: Asbury Park Press
Published: February 20, 1999
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