Airborne Metal Pollution Linked to Lung Cancer
Airborne metal particles from industrial pollution may lead to lung cancer, researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have found. That's troubling news for residents of the Hometown area and surrounding Schuylkill County, where metal pollution from waste-coal-burning power plants and other industrial facilities is a major problem.
The groundbreaking study, published last week in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, compared incidence rates of lung cancer for all 254 Texas counties from 1995 to 2000 with industrial air releases of metals reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the previous eight to 13 years. It found that lung cancer rates were highest in counties with the highest levels of industrialization.
The study offers a possible explanation for the occurrence of lung cancer in the 10 to 15 percent of patients who have never smoked cigarettes. It could also help explain why some cigarette smokers get lung cancer and others do not.
"There is concern that other environmental carcinogens may be interacting with cigarette smoking or alone may be influencing the current trends for lung cancer incidence and mortality," said Dr. Yvonne Coyle, associate professor of internal medicine and the study's senior author.
Coyle explained the carcinogenic effect of airborne metals: "There is some evidence that metals can interfere with a biochemical process called methylation that inactivates genes that normally suppress tumor growth.
"Although the study is not conclusive, it provides new information suggesting that airborne metals, including those that are essential human nutrients, such as zinc and copper, play an important role in lung carcinogenesis," she added.
Among the metals the study considered were chromium, copper and zinc. According to the EPA's 2004 Toxic Release Inventory, industrial facilities in Schuylkill County released to the air 1,024 pounds of chromium and chromium compounds, 242 pounds of copper and copper compounds, and 128 pounds of zinc and zinc compounds.
The county's biggest airborne chromium polluter is Goulds Pumps of Ashland, which released 352 pounds of the metal to the air in 2004, according to the TRI. Northeastern Power Co. north of Hometown ties for second place, having released 255 pounds to the air in 2004 , according to TRI. NEPCO is tied with the St. Nicholas Cogeneration Project 14 miles west of Hometown near the borough of Shenandoah; that facility that released 255 pounds of chromium to the air in 2004, along with 10 pounds of copper and another 10 pounds of zinc.
Meanwhile, both of those waste-coal-burning facilities are also dumping an enormous amount of these potentially health-impairing metals into nearby mine-reclamation landfills, leading to possible air pollution via dust. NEPCO dumped 14,500 pounds of chromium into its nearby "Big Gorilla" mine-reclamation landfill, while St. Nicholas dumped into a mine-reclamation landfill near that facility 52,984 pounds of chromium, 23,037 pounds of copper and 28,412 pounds of zinc.
The groundbreaking study, published last week in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, compared incidence rates of lung cancer for all 254 Texas counties from 1995 to 2000 with industrial air releases of metals reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the previous eight to 13 years. It found that lung cancer rates were highest in counties with the highest levels of industrialization.
The study offers a possible explanation for the occurrence of lung cancer in the 10 to 15 percent of patients who have never smoked cigarettes. It could also help explain why some cigarette smokers get lung cancer and others do not.
"There is concern that other environmental carcinogens may be interacting with cigarette smoking or alone may be influencing the current trends for lung cancer incidence and mortality," said Dr. Yvonne Coyle, associate professor of internal medicine and the study's senior author.
Coyle explained the carcinogenic effect of airborne metals: "There is some evidence that metals can interfere with a biochemical process called methylation that inactivates genes that normally suppress tumor growth.
"Although the study is not conclusive, it provides new information suggesting that airborne metals, including those that are essential human nutrients, such as zinc and copper, play an important role in lung carcinogenesis," she added.
Among the metals the study considered were chromium, copper and zinc. According to the EPA's 2004 Toxic Release Inventory, industrial facilities in Schuylkill County released to the air 1,024 pounds of chromium and chromium compounds, 242 pounds of copper and copper compounds, and 128 pounds of zinc and zinc compounds.
The county's biggest airborne chromium polluter is Goulds Pumps of Ashland, which released 352 pounds of the metal to the air in 2004, according to the TRI. Northeastern Power Co. north of Hometown ties for second place, having released 255 pounds to the air in 2004 , according to TRI. NEPCO is tied with the St. Nicholas Cogeneration Project 14 miles west of Hometown near the borough of Shenandoah; that facility that released 255 pounds of chromium to the air in 2004, along with 10 pounds of copper and another 10 pounds of zinc.
Meanwhile, both of those waste-coal-burning facilities are also dumping an enormous amount of these potentially health-impairing metals into nearby mine-reclamation landfills, leading to possible air pollution via dust. NEPCO dumped 14,500 pounds of chromium into its nearby "Big Gorilla" mine-reclamation landfill, while St. Nicholas dumped into a mine-reclamation landfill near that facility 52,984 pounds of chromium, 23,037 pounds of copper and 28,412 pounds of zinc.
posted by Sue Sturgis at
2:02 PM
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