The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced in December a phased ban of a cancer-causing chemical that can persist in groundwater. Iowa’s 1st Congressional District Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and other lawmakers have introduced legislation to reverse that decision.
Trichloroethylene, or TCE, is a synthetic compound that’s been produced in the U.S. since the 1920s.
Over 80% of TCE produced annually is used to make refrigerants, while nearly 15% goes into degreasers and cleaners. TCE is also widely used in household items, like stain removers, spray adhesives, paints and sealants.
“This is a pretty black and white one. We know these are bad chemicals.”David Cwiertny, director of the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination at the University of Iowa
After a years-long review process, the EPA said the chemical met the threshold for “unreasonable risk of injury to human health.”
Federal and international agencies say there’s strong evidence TCE exposure can cause kidney cancer, and it’s linked to liver cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Parkinson’s disease, birth defects and other health issues.
“This is a pretty black and white one. We know these are bad chemicals,” said David Cwiertny, professor of environmental engineering and chemistry and director of the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination at the University of Iowa.
People can be exposed to TCE by breathing it in, absorbing it through the skin or drinking it. Cwiertny says TCE is in a category of chemicals that can sit at the bottom of the water table and slowly leach out.
“They're persistent. They're toxic, and because we've used them widely in industry and consumer product and consumer goods for decades... we have these in a lot of places where they're problematic for the environment, for water supplies and for public health,” Cwiertny said.
Hazardous waste sites in Iowa with TCE
The EPA’s Superfund program cleans up hazardous waste sites around the country and holds responsible parties accountable. TCE has been present in about half of the locations.
An EPA spokesperson said it’s important to note that TCE is also the “daughter” or “degradation product” when another chemical called tetrachloroethylene (PCE) breaks down.
Iowa has 17 active Superfund sites with TCE and PCE as contaminants of concern. The spokesperson said a common treatment method to address soil contamination is in-situ thermal remediation. The agency often uses pump and treat techniques for groundwater.
The EPA is working on two sites in Des Moines to prevent contamination of the public water supply: Des Moines TCE and Lot 46 Valley Gardens TCE.
Des Moines Water Works CEO and General Manager Ted Corrigan said he’s thankful for the Superfund program.
“We’re not seeing any TCE in our drinking water here in Des Moines. We’ve got these sites that we’re aware of that are in proximity to our treatment plant, but they’re being managed and the TCE contamination there is being mitigated effectively,” Corrigan said.
The EPA sets a "maximum contaminant level” for TCE in public water systems and requires utilities to test for the chemical. This federal regulation does not apply to private wells.
Rep. Miller-Meeks did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the legislation she co-sponsored, which aims to reverse the EPA’s ban on TCE. If signed into law, a resolution of disapproval nullifies the agency rule and prevents the agency from issuing a "substantially similar" rule under the Congressional Review Act.
The EPA analyzed potential industry impacts when issuing its final rule late last year to ban TCE and PCE. The agency press office said, “Alternative products with similar costs and efficacy to PCE are reasonably available.”
“At the end of the day, these arguments over whether a chemical should be used or not boil down to how much we value public health and prevention of exposure to the chemicals versus [the] bottom line for the manufacturing and industry processes that use it, and that's always been the challenge in environmental regulations,” Cwiertny said.
