Contaminated Water: Questions Surround El Toro

Sick Marines and Contaminated Water: Questions Surround El Toro Marine Air Base (VIDEO REPORT)

Investigative Series with Tim King Salem-News.com

Marines who served here need to know the possible health hazards so they can seek treatment. TCE causes mutations, intestinal disorders and cancer.

 



Photo and video by Tim King
 

(EL TORO, Calif.) - El Toro Marine Air Station used to be the premiere Marine Corps aviation facility on the west coast. It closed in 1999 and is in the midst of big change; a park will soon occupy the land and new homes are being built. But while the politicians move forward and families move into new homes on the former base, contamination in the base's water system from a degreasing chemical is staying off the radar.

Most Marines who served at the El Toro Marine Air Station in Orange. County, California would hardly recognize the place today. Since its closure in 1999, the land that used to be the Irvine Ranch, has been a hotbed of controversy. Many people wanted to see it become a large airport for Orange County, others wanted to see a more public use, and that is where it is heading.

But a group of veterans that growing quickly in number, say El Toro, along with the active Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune on the east coast, is a major TCE contaminant zone. TCE, Trichloroethylene, was a chemical degreaser used to clean the parts off Marine Corps jet fighters.

It is believed that for years, the toxic chemical invaded the water system here.

Marines have died, children have been born with birth defects, and experts like Salem-News.com’s Dr. Phil Leveque, who as a toxicologist had one of the first TCE-related court cases in the U.S., says the effects of this chemical are far reaching.

According to records, the contaminated wells were shut down in 1970, but residue from the poisonous degreaser continued to affect people because it was in the ground.

The group of watchdog Marines bringing the story forward, also say there are eyewitness accounts of many 55 gallon barrels of TCE being buried in a hole here at El Toro.

The base is now incorporated into the city of Irvine.
Irvine’s city council met last night and one of the prime items was the redevelopment of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. The Public Information Officer for Irvine, Louie Gonzales, explained what the city is doing with the property.

The most important thing is for Marines, family members and civilian workers who worked here, to learn of the possible health hazards so they can seek treatment.

TCE causes mutations, intestinal disorders and cancer. The federal government has not performed sufficient outreach to let Marines and former Marines know about the hazards they may face, now or in the future.


Sick Marines and Contaminated Water: Questions Surround El Toro Marine Air Base (VIDEO REPORT) - Salem-News.Com
 

Actual article with opportunity to comment  Jul-23-2008

7-25-08

cato -

I hope "Dear Maggie" will see this, and weigh in.

She seems to be an expert on such matters.

bluehawk
I looked it up and found that this is considered an organic solvent ...of which the chemical I know best, 2-butoxyethanol, as a complex alcohol, would be a part of also.

Both chemicals are used as degreasers. With EGBE there is a warning not to get into the water.

I am amazed how much information they know about it. I would suspect it is also an autoimmune causing chemical and that getting vapors in the eyes would also be a concern

Things I found ... & how I went about looking for info on it.

 
Quote:
The chemical compound trichloroethylene is a chlorinated hydrocarbon commonly used as an industrial solvent. It is a clear non-flammable liquid with a sweet smell.

Its IUPAC name is trichloroethene. In industry, it is informally referred to by the abbreviations TCE, Trike and tri, and it is sold under a variety of trade names. In addition to its industrial uses, trichloroethylene was used from about 1930 as a volatile anesthetic and analgesic in millions of patients.

Pioneered by Imperial Chemical Industries in Britain, its development was hailed as a revolution: lacking the great hepatotoxic liability of chloroform and the unpleasant pungency and flammability of ether, it nonetheless had several pitfalls, including the sensitization of the myocardium to epinephrine, potentially acting in an arrhythmogenic manner. Its low volatility demanded the employment of carefully regulated heat in its vaporization. Research demonstrating its transient elevation of serum hepatic enzymes raised concerns regarding its hepatotoxic potential. Several deaths occurred as a result, though the incidence was comparable to that of halothane hepatitis. Incompatibility with soda lime (the CO2 adsorbent utilized in closed-circuit, low-flow rebreathing systems) was also a concern. TCE was readily decomposed into 1,2-dichloroacetylene, a neurotoxic compound potentially responsible for its hepatotoxic potential, though its metabolite trichloroacetic acid is more probably the etiological source of the latter. Halothane usurped a great portion of its market in 1956, with its total abandonment not achieved until the 1980s, when its use as an analgesic in obstetrics was implicated in fetal death. Concerns of its carcinogenic potential were raised simultaneously.

Due to concerns about its toxicity, the use of trichloroethylene in the food and pharmaceutical industries has been banned in much of the world since the 1970s. Legislation has forced the substitution of trichloroethylene in many process in Europe as the chemical was classified as a carcinogen carrying an R45 risk phrase. Many alternatives are being promoted such as Ensolv and Leksol, however each of these is based on nPropyl Bromide which carries an R60 risk phrase and they would not be a legally acceptable substitute. Human exposure to trichloroethylene is potentially widespread. It is a common contaminant in soil and groundwater at hundreds of waste sites across the United States. Some are exposed to TCE through contaminated drinking water. Others are potentially exposed through inhalation of vapor from contaminated soil or groundwater entering nearby buildings. Another significant source of vapor exposure in Superfund sites that had contaminated groundwater, such as the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant, was by showering. TCE readily volatilizes out of hot water and into the air. Long, hot showers would then volatalise more TCE into the air. In a home closed tightly to conserve the cost of heating and cooling, these vapors would then recirculate. Tens of thousands of workers are potentially were exposed to trichloroethylene used as a degreasing and cleaning chemical. Other exposures have occurred through the long-term use of trichloroethylene as a surgical anesthetic.

TCE was first detected in groundwater in 1977, and is one of the most frequently detected contaminants in groundwater in the U.S. Based on available federal and state surveys, between 9% to 34% of the drinking water supply sources tested in the U.S. may have some TCE contamination, though EPA has reported that most water supplies are in compliance with the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 5 ppb. In addition, a growing concern in recent years at sites with TCE contamination in soil or groundwater has been vapor intrusion in buildings, which has resulted in indoor air exposures. Trichloroethylene has been detected in 852 Superfund sites across the United States, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). and 34% of the drinking water supply sources that have been tested in the United States may have some trichloroethylene contamination. Source
I thought Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether was pretty bad, until I ran into PROPYLENE GLYCOL MONO-t-BUTYL ETHER in Fantastik


I think it is very important to notice when one is not feeling well, like flu symptoms mentioned in the MSDS. That could indicate what exactly was the chemical you might be exposed to, since these organic solvents are so frequently in use. If there is a filter that filters out the chemical, I think it should be used to pick it up out of the air in our homes, too.
 

I think glyconutrient food supplements, Ambrotose would help

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10-3-08