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1. ATSDR > Public Health Assessments & Consultations

1. The Petrochem/EkoTek site represents an indeterminate public health hazard because the environmental data reviewed are inadequate for fully assessing the possible impact of this site on public health. The extent of off-site groundwater and soil contamination has not been determined.

2. The maximum levels of arsenic and cadmium in residential soil could result in adverse health effects in children who ingest five or more grams of contaminated soil a day for more than a year. However, there may not be any children in the Petrochem area who ingest that much soil. In addition, the levels of arsenic around Petrochem are typical (i.e., background) for the Salt Lake City area.

3. The maximum levels of barium could also cause health effects in children according to animal studies. Because this conclusion is based on animal studies, it is uncertain that any health effects will occur, due to the difficulties in predicting human health effects from animal data.

4. Based on the preliminary data reviewed for this assessment, none of the other contaminants were at concentrations that represent a health hazard. None of the contaminants appear to represent a risk for carcinogenic effects.

5. There are two completed exposure pathways at the Petrochem site. One is a soil ingestion pathway and the other is via ambient air.

6. There are four potential exposure pathways - surface water, groundwater, soil gas, and waste materials. The surface water pathway probably transported unknown concentrations of site contaminants to businesses west of the site. Residences and businesses within 1 mile of the site use municipal water for drinking water. Exposure of site and remedial workers to site waste materials may have occurred in the past.

7. Off-site residential soil, groundwater, and air need further characterization (i.e., what, where, how much, and the source(s) of contamination). The characterization could include additional sampling or evaluation of existing data.

8. The appropriate health outcome data were not available to evaluate reports of cancer in the Petrochem area.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Site Characterization Recommendations

ATSDR recommends that EPA, in cooperation with UDEQ, do the following to better characterize off-site groundwater, residential soil, and air.

1. Identify the potential for and extent of contamination of groundwater. That should be done by placing and sampling monitoring wells hydrologically downgradient from the site. If off-site contamination extends to areas of private well use, ATSDR recommends identifying and sampling the private wells. Analytes for sampling should include arsenic, lead, benzene and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

2. Sample the surface soil (0-3") for heavy metals including arsenic, mercury, and lead; PCBs; chlordane; phthalates; VOCs; and PAHs at the businesses and residences immediately adjacent to the site. Particularly, sample the businesses to the west that received surface water drainage from the site. Additional sampling of residential yards south of the site, in Swedetown, should be done to further evaluate the potential for exposure.

3. Ambient air should be monitored near locations where surface soil gas contaminants are identified. Ambient air should be monitored for VOCs and heavy metals in particulates during remedial activities.

HARP Recommendations

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended, requires ATSDR to perform public health actions needed at hazardous waste sites. To determine if public health actions are needed, ATSDR's Health Activities Recommendation Panel (HARP) has evaluated the data and information developed in the Petrochem Public Health Assessment.

HARP determined the following:

1. Because people may have been exposed to contaminants at levels that may cause illness or disease, biologic indicators of exposure testing is needed.

2. A health statistics review and community health investigation are needed to help address community concerns about cancer.

3. Community health and health professions education is indicated. These activities will assist the community in understanding their potential for exposure, how to prevent or mitigate the effects of exposure, or assess the occurrence of adverse health outcomes in the community. The health professions education would also improve the knowledge, skill and behavior of health professionals in diagnosing, treating, or educating patients possibly exposed to hazardous substances in the environment.

Public Health Actions

This section identifies those completed, ongoing, or planned actions by ATSDR or other agencies, which implement the recommendations in this public health assessment.

1. ATSDR, in cooperation with appropriate public health agencies, will evaluate the feasibility and resources to pursue implementing the health actions determined by HARP.

2. The Utah Tumor Registry and Utah Department of Health are reviewing their health statistics databases.

Public Comments

The public health assessment for the Petrochem/EkoTek site, Salt Lake City, Utah was available for public review and comment from November 10 through December 8, 1992. A summary of the comments received can be found in Appendix E.

PREPARERS OF REPORT

Laura Barr
Environmental Health Scientist
Environmental Science Section
Remedial Program Branch

John R. Crellin, Ph.D.
Environmental Health Scientist
Health Science Section
Remedial Program Branch

ATSDR Regional Representative:

Glenn Tucker
Senior Regional Representative
Region VIII - Denver
Regional Program Office

REFERENCES

1. US EPA Fact Sheet, Petrochem/EkoTek Site, September 10, 1990.

2. EkoTek Inc., Letter to Utah Bureau of Air Quality requesting a permit to burn solvents and used oils for energy recovery, December 15, 1986.

3. State of Utah, Dept. of Health, Air Quality Bureau, Notice of Violation to EkoTek, 1988.

4. State of Utah, Dept. of Health, Solid and Hazardous Waste Committee, Notice of Violation and Compliance Order, May 29, 1984.

5. ATSDR file review at the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Air Quality Bureau, February, 1992.

6. State of Utah, Dept. of Health, Air Quality Bureau, Engineering Review of EkoTek, February 14, 1983.

7. EPA Site Evaluation Report, Ecology and Environment-consulting, Field Activities and Analytical Results Report For Petrochem/EkoTek Plant, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 14, 1990.

8. Trip Report: Site Visit and Community Visit of Petrochem/EkoTek NPL Site in Salt Lake City, UT on February 3-6, 1992. From JR Crellin and L Barr (ATSDR) to R Williams (ATSDR), February 18, 1992.

9. Letter: review of initial release of Petrochem Public Health Assessment. From T Leber (Utah Department of Environmental Quality) to G Tucker (ATSDR). July 7, 1992.

10. Letter: review of initial release of Petrochem Public Health Assessment. From L Williams (EPA) to G Tucker (ATSDR). August 31, 1992.

11. EPA HRS Package, Petrochem/EkoTek Plant, Region VIII, February 1991.

12. EPA. Toxic Chemical Release Inventory (TRI) file on Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET). Bethesda, MD: National Library of Medicine (NLM). September 1991.

13. McKenzie H and Butterfield WS. Final Report - Phase I Sampling Petrochem Site. Roy F. Weston Inc. July 1990.

14. State of Utah, Dept. of Health, Air Quality Bureau, Memorandum, October 8, 1987.

15. State of Utah, Dept. of Health, Air Quality Bureau, Plant Inspection Report of EkoTek, September, 1982.

16. Barnes DG and Dourson M. Reference dose (RfD): description and use in health risk assessments. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 8: 471-486. 1988.

17. Hill RN. Current EPA perspectives on animal selection and extrapolation. in (Roloff MV et al, eds) Human Risk Assessment. The Role of Animal Selection and Extrapolation. London: Taylor and Francis. 1987.

18. Stallones RA. Epidemiology and Environmental Hazards. in (Gordis L and Libauer CH, eds) Epidemiology and Human Risk Assessment. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1988.

19. Paustenbach DJ. A survey of health risk assessment. in (Paustenbach DJ, ed) The Risk Assessment of Environmental Hazards. A Textbook of Case Studies. New York: John Wiley and Sons. 1989.

20. EPA. Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) file on Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET). Bethesda, MD: National Library of Medicine (NLM). September 1991.

21. ATSDR. Draft Toxicological Profile for Arsenic. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS). October 1991.

22. ATSDR. Draft Toxicological Profile for Barium. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS). October 1990.

23. ATSDR. Draft Toxicological Profile for Cadmium. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS). October 1991.

24. ATSDR. Draft Toxicological Profile for Chromium. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS). October 1991.

25. Duggan MJ. Lead in urban dust: an assessment. Water, Air, Soil Pollut 14: 309-321, 1980.

26. Duggan MJ, Inskip MJ. Childhood exposure to lead in surface dust and soil: a community problem. Pub Hlth Rev 13: 1-54, 1985.

27. Madhaven S, Rosenman KD, Shehata T. Lead in soil: recommended maximum permissible levels. Env Res 49: 136-142, 1989.

28. ATSDR. Draft Toxicological Profile for Manganese. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS). October 1990.

29. ATSDR. Draft Toxicological Profile for Vanadium. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS). October 1990.

30. ATSDR. Toxicological Profile for Selected PCBs (Aroclor-1260, -1254, -1248, -1242, -1232, -1221, and -1016) Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS) TP-88-21. June 1989.

31. Barsotti DA, Van Miller JP. Accumulation of a commercial polychlorinated biphenyl mixture (Aroclor 1016) in adult rhesus monkeys and their nursing infants. Toxicology 30: 31-44. 1984.

32. Levin ED, Schantz SL, Bowman RE. Delayed spatial alternation deficits resulting from perinatal PCB exposure in monkeys. Arch Toxicol 62: 267-273. 1988.

33. Schantz SL, Levin ED, Bowman RE, et al. Effects of perinatal PCB exposure on discrimination-reversal learning in monkeys. Neurotoxicol Teratol 11: 243-250.

34. Thomas JA. Toxic responses of the reproductive system. in (Amdur MO, J Doull, and CD Klaassen, eds) Casarett and Doull's Toxicology. The Basic Science of Poisons. Fourth Edition. New York: Pergamon Press. 1991.

35. ATSDR. Toxicological Profile for Chlordane. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS) TP-89-06. December 1989.

36. ATSDR. Draft Toxicological Profile for Aldrin/Dieldrin. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS). October 1991.

37. ATSDR. Draft Toxicological Profile for Heptachlor/Heptachlor Epoxide. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS). October 1991.

38. ATSDR. Toxicological Profile for Mercury. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS) TP-89-16. December 1989.

39. ATSDR. Draft Toxicological Profile for Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS). October 1991.

40. ATSDR. Toxicological Profile for Di-n-butylphthalate. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS) TP-90-10. December 1990.

41. ATSDR. Toxicological Profile for Pentachlorophenol. Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), DHHS (PHS) TP-89-19. December 1989.

42. Background Soil Data (CLP Validated-Metals) in the Salt Lake City Area. May 21, 1991.

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