Trichloroethylene - Human Exposure

Human Exposure

Some are exposed to TCE through contaminated drinking water. With a specific gravity greater than 1, trichloroethene can be present as a dense nonaqueous phase liquid if sufficient quantities are spilled in the environment. 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 volatilize more TCE into the air. In a home closed tightly to conserve the cost of heating and cooling, these vapors would then recirculate.

The first known report of TCE in groundwater was given in 1949 by two English public chemists who described two separate instances of well contamination by industrial releases of TCE. 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, such is in a recent case in the McCook Field Neighborhood of Dayton, Ohio. Trichloroethylene has been detected in 852 Superfund sites across the United States, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Under the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, and as amended annual water quality testing is required for all public drinking water distributors. The EPA'S current guidelines for TCE can be found here. It should be noted that the EPA's table of "TCE Releases to Ground" is dated 1987 to 1993, thereby omitting one of the largest Superfund cleanup sites in the nation, the NIBW in Scottsdale, Arizona. The TCE "released" here occurred prior to its appearance in the municipal drinking wells in 1982.

In 1988, the EPA discovered tons of TCE that had been leaked or dumped into the ground by the United States military and semiconductor industry (companies including Fairchild Semiconductor, Intel Corporation, and Raytheon Company) just outside of NASA Ames in Moffet Field, Mountain View, California.

In 1998, the View-Master factory supply well in Beaverton, Oregon was found to have been contaminated with high levels of TCE. It was estimated that 25,000 factory workers had been exposed to it from 1950–2001.

In the case of Lisle, Illinois, releases of trichloroethylene (TCE) had allegedly occurred on the Lockformer property beginning in 1968 and continuing for an undetermined period. The company used TCE in the past as a degreaser to clean metal parts. Contamination at the Lockformer site is presently under investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Illinois EPA. In 1992, Lockformer conducted soil sampling on their property and found TCE in the soil at levels as high as 680 parts per million (ppm). During the summer of 2000, a group of residents hired legal counsel, and on October 11, 2000, these residents had their private well water tested by a private environmental consultant. The group owned homes south of the Lockformer property in the suspected path of groundwater flow. The consultant collected a second round of well water samples on November 10, 2000, and TCE was detected in some of the wells sampled. Beginning in December 2000, Illinois EPA collected about 350 more private well water samples north and south of the Lockformer property.

As of 2007, 57,000 pounds, or 28.5 tons of TCE have been removed from the system of wells that once supplied drinking water to the residents of Scottsdale, Arizona. One of the three drinking water wells previously owned by the City of Phoenix and ultimately sold to the City of Scottsdale, tested at 390 ppb TCE when it was closed in 1982. Some Scottsdale residents who received their water bills from the City of Phoenix throughout the 1960s and 1970s were understandably confused as to whether they indeed had been consuming contaminated water when information about the Superfund site was first disseminated. The City of Scottsdale recently updated their website to clarify that the contaminated wells were "in the Scottsdale area" and to delete all references to the levels of TCE discovered when the wells were closed as "trace".

A spot was then ultimately chosen to receive and treat the contaminated drinking water known as the Central Groundwater Treatment Facility. Then 1989, as now, this treatment facility (CGTF) is situated on land adjacent to Pima Park and the Siemens facility documented as one of the potentially responsible parties at the corner of Thomas and Pima roads. Close proximity to this park did not appear to enter into Motorola's calculations when asserting that it would save money to remove the carbon air filters in 2007.

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina may be the largest TCE contamination site in the country. Legislation could force the EPA to establish a health advisory and a national public drinking water regulation to limit trichloroethylene.

For over twenty years of operation, RCA Corporation had been pouring toxic wastewater into a well in its Taoyuan, Taiwan facility. The pollution from the plant was not revealed until 1994, when former workers brought it to light. Investigation by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration confirmed that RCA had been dumping chlorinated organic solvents into a secret well and caused contamination to the soil and groundwater surrounding the plant site. High levels of TCE and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) can be found in groundwater drawn as far as two kilometers from the site. An organization of former RCA employees reports 1375 cancer cases, 216 cancer deaths, and 102 cases of various tumors among its members.

In 2012, neighbors in an area off of Stony Hill Road, Wake Forest, NC, learned they have been drinking, bathing and cooking in TCE contaminated water for years as authorities failed to follow up on the spread of TCE.