Show your support for community science. Donate to Public Lab »

Question: What are the health impacts of the Aluf Plastics Plant from air pollution?

stevie is asking a question about air-quality: Follow this topic

by stevie | December 04, 2019 15:34 | #21664

The Aluf Plastics Plant has been negatively affecting the community of Orangetown for decades. While there is some data on air quality impacts, such as increased levels of Acrolein as well as Ethyl Acetate, Cyclohexane, Methylene Chloride, Hexane, Ethanol, Chloroform, 2-Hexanone (MBK), and Isopropanol, the health impacts of exposure to these are unknown. Our children are left covering their faces with their shirts and asking when it will stop smelling. @CA4O welcomes any help to process the information we have and figure out what else can be done to stop these noxious odors.

Read more about this issue here.

Share

5 Comments

This type of plastic causes pollution of air which causes a deterioration of concrete structure as well as in human being it causes skin irritation, eye sight problem, brain hambrain, bad physical effect etc on the body. It also causes water pollution.

Thanks @Engineerjaykumar! Do you know if there are specific chemicals/compounds tied to specific effects?

For example, could you say that high levels of chloroform are specifically tied to eyesight problems?

Is this a question? Click here to post it to the Questions page.



Pending approval by community moderators. Please be patient!

  
Hindimessages commented 16 days ago

Plastics are very dangerous for human health . Avoid it Hindimessages


Reply to this comment...


  
stevie commented 16 days ago

This came in from Molly Jacobs, Environmental Health Initiative Project Manager at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production:

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) fact sheets on the air toxics described. ATSDR hasn’t put out a fact sheet on isopropanol (mostly because the health impacts are mostly of concern to workers, not those residing near factories using/emitting this substance); yet provided a NJ fact sheet on this chemical.

There are known health effects, some of these chemicals are more problematic than others. What we don’t know is the health effects associated with the mixture of substances. However, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified air pollution (the complex mixture) as carcinogenic to humans: https://www.iarc.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr221_E.pdf.

Health impact fact sheets:

I would be less worried about (unless exposed at high levels):

Ethyl Acetate (acetic acid) Ethanol

Is this a question? Click here to post it to the Questions page.

  
Ag8n commented 13 days ago

In the past, this company was using PVC ( polyvinylchloride). If this is still being used, the most major issue from PVC degradation is HCl (hydrochloric acid). It is easily produced by excessive thermal degradation.

There are many other chemicals that could be produced, depending on the additives in the PVC.

Other plastics produce other chemicals. Can the other plastics be identified?

Is this a question? Click here to post it to the Questions page.


Reply to this comment...


Log in to comment