EPA will test for toxics EPA will test for toxics (May 28, 2004)

Federal agency seeks homeowners to track TCE chemical

By Corey Pride

Local residents who want to have their homes tested for the hazardous toxin TCE can contact the Environmental Protection Agency in the next few weeks.

The EPA said it is looking for volunteers to let their homes be checked for a hazardous toxin that is airborne and entering some homes through cellars and underground crawl spaces in a contaminated portion of the city.

The announcement was made at the May 19 meeting of the Northeast Mountain View Advisory Council. The council is sponsored by the EPA and was formed by city residents last year after concerns about airborne toxins arose at public meetings on the environment.

The EPA does not believe the levels of trichloroethene (TCE), a cancer-causing solvent, entering homes have any short-term health risks, but the agency is in the process of gauging the risks to residents within a 30-year span. Exposure to high levels of TCE could increase health risks for illnesses such as Parkinson's disease, brain tumors and lupus.

In March, the EPA tested four homes in the area bounded by Middlefield Road, Ellis Street and Whisman Road, a region referred to as MEW. The MEW site and others like it have been the subject of toxic cleanup for years since businesses unintentionally released toxins into the groundwater.

The four homes tested included two with crawl spaces underneath, one with a cellar and one with no underground space. Two rounds of testing took place on two different days three weeks apart. The home with a cellar showed a 3.7 and a 2.7 TCE level on the days tested. The airborne TCE range considered safe is 0.017 to 1.7.

Testing was also done in the living areas of the homes, and every room had results within the safe range of TCE levels. But there is a concern that TCE is entering the home from below.

"A crawl space or substructure would be the most likely way we would see TCE creep into the home," said EPA project manager Alana Lee. "We don't know how many homes there are like that. I would like to go door-to-door this summer asking people if they have a cellar or a crawl space."

EPA project manager John Moody said, judging from city records and construction trends in the past few decades in California, he estimates fewer than 100 homes in Mountain View have cellars or crawl spaces.

Northeast Mountain View Advisory Council member Jane Horton and her young son live in the home with the cellar. She said she is glad she found out about the TCE levels but recognizes her cellar is an integral part of her home.

"That's where my water heater and water filtration system are so it's a very important part of the house," Horton said.

Council member Ed Schlosser is not convinced by the EPA's small sampling.

"These homes are not homogenous, having been built over many years. So with a limited sample of four, we are on very shaky ground to draw any conclusions," he said.

Council member Lenny Siegel said people should not assume they are safe.

"Basically I don't want anybody to say because they have a slab (concrete foundation) under their home they don't need their home tested. There's a whole lot we don't know about," Siegel said.

An initial concern the EPA had in testing for TCE levels was the number of household products which have TCE in them. Dry cleaning materials and car degreasers, for example, contain TCE.

Horton said while she does do laundry in her home, she was very careful not to purchase products with TCE in them while she was participating in the testing.

"I don't go to Home Depot and buy the TCE products," she said. "I'm sure everyone who had their home sampled was careful because we don't want the results skewed."

Siegel recommended the public not use items that contain TCE in their homes and suggested that they open their windows to let airborne TCE go outside.

And Moody cautioned people against panic.

"We have the liberty of time because levels are low. People may have (TCE products) at home, people may have it at work. The levels do not warrant drastic action," Moody said.

The EPA also tested the outside air surrounding homes and found levels of TCE less than or the same as they were indoors. TCE levels outdoors were all in the safe range.

Horton was encouraged by the EPA's level of attention on TCE levels in her neighborhood.

"At least we are getting something done. There are many communities in the same situation and don't know it," she said.

People who live in the MEW area that wish to volunteer to have their home tested can contact the EPA at (415) 972-3200.

E-mail Corey Pride at cpride@mv-voice.com

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