HEALTH CONSULTATION
OLD PAYSON DRY CLEANERS
PAYSON, GILA COUNTY, ARIZONA
Based upon the calculated total daily dose of PCE for the trailer park residents, the contaminated groundwater uses in cooking and showering is unlikely to cause any adverse health effects in either adults or children. Although exposure to PCE is occurring, at the doses calculated, the exposure would pose no apparent public health hazard.
Inhalation exposure from the McKone and Knezovich model makes several assumptions. The model is unable to account for variability in VOC concentrations in shower stalls that depend upon the water flow characteristics, and we assume in our calculations that there is a constant flow and dispersion of PCE in the water and air.
We lack an exposure factor to estimate the exposure from volatilization of PCE during cooking
alone. Also, the lack of scientific data to support a dose-based NOAEL for dermal exposure
poses a data gap. Dermal uptake can also vary due to physiological and anatomical factors such as % skin fat, and % blood fat.
Recommendations for the trailer park residents whose well is currently impacted by PCE at a level greater than MCL:
Pragathi S. L. Tummala, MPH
Office of Environmental Health
Arizona Dept. Of Health Services
Will Humble, MPH
Chief, Office of Environmental Health
Bureau of Epidemiology and Disease Control
Arizona Dept. Of Health Services
ATSDR Regional Representatives
Dan Strausbaugh
Regional Services, Region IX
William Nelson
Regional Services, Region IX
Office of the Assistant Administrator
ATSDR Technical Project Officer
William Greim
Division of Health Assessment and Consultation
Superfund Site Assessment Branch
The Old Payson Dry Cleaners: Contaminated Trailer Park Well Health Consultation was prepared by the Arizona Department of Health Services under a cooperative agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). It is in accordance with approved methodology and procedures existing at the time the health consultation was initiated.
William Greim
Technical Project Officer, SPS, SSAB, DHAC
The Division of Health Assessment and Consultation, ATSDR, has reviewed this health consultation and concurs with its findings.
Richard Gillig
Chief, SPS, SSAB, DHAC, ATSDR
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Toxicological Profile for Tetrachloroethylene (Update), February 20, 1996.
Arizona Department of Health Services, Statement of Risk: Payson WQARF Site, Payson, AZ, June 3, 1994.
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Payson PCE Site Summary and Management Plan, March 1997.
Andelman, J. B. , "Total Exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds in Potable Water," Significance and Treatment of Volatile Organic Compunds in Water Supplies, p. 495- 504, 1990.
McKone, T.E., and J.P. Knezovich,"The Transfer of Trichloroethylene from a shower to Indoor Air: Experimental Measurements and Their Implications," Journal of Air Waste Management Association, Vol. 40:282-286, 1991.
Brown, Halina S., et.al, "The Role of Skin Absorption as a Route of Exposure for VOCs in Drinking Water," American Journal of Public Health, Vol 74:5, p. 479-484.
Andelman, J.B., "Inhalational Exposure in the Home to VOCs Contaminants of Drinking Water," The Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 47, p. 443-460, 1985.
Hake, C.L. and R.D. Stewart, "Human Exposure to tetrachloroethylene:Inhalation and Skin Contact," Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol.21: pp.231-238, 1977.
California Environmental Protection Agency, Preliminary Endangerment Assessment Guidance Manual, Department of Toxic Substances Control, Sacramento, CA, 1994.
