The National Academies' National Research Council has published a 379-page report on trichloroethylene (TCE) link to cancer and other health risks from TCE exposure has strengthened since the 2001 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) draft risk assessment.

Based on information provided by the National Academies, at the time, the EPA was blocked from elevating its assessment of the chemical's risks in people by the Defense Department, Energy Department and NASA, all of which have sites polluted with TCE.

TCE, a solvent used to remove grease from metal parts in airplanes and to clean fuel lines at missile sites is contaminating air, soil, and water at several military installations and hundreds of waste sites around the country.

Until the mid-1970s, it also was used as a surgical anesthetic. TCE can be found in typewriter correction fluid, paint removers, adhesives, and spot removers. According to the report, TCE has also been found at about 60 percent of the nation's worst contaminated sites in the Superfund cleanup program.

The National Academies Press offers Assessing the Human Health Risks of Trichloroethylene: Key Scientific Issues as a 379-page report you can purchase -- read online -- or download as a PDF document here.

Related posts you can find here are: TCE: groundwater contamination in toxic triangle of cancer and Erin Brockovich: talks to homeowners about toxic spill lawsuit.

Erin Brockovich-Ellis traveled to Ithaca to tell local homeowners she thinks they have a strong legal case against Emerson Power Transmission for damages resulting from the plant's contamination of the area with the industrial solvent, trichloroethylene, or TCE, a potentially potent carcinogen. It seeps into groundwater. According to Brockovich-Ellis, "the residents are not dealing with a rinky-dink amount of TCE," and went on to indicate that the TCE numbers are some of the highest she has ever seen. A spokesperson for Emerson is quoted as saying that the company was not aware of any lawsuit and had no comment. They might not have a comment but I seriously doubt they are unaware of the potential lawsuit or the arrival of Brockovich-Ellis.

Neither a lawyer or scientist, she has become legendary for her activism and work regarding environmental issues related to cancer incidence. What made her famous was the curious, relentless, tenacious, and fearlessness of her pursuit in exposing the truth of the incident involving Pacific Gas and Electric who had been knowingly exposing residents groundwater to the cancer-causing agent chromium 6 and the cancer deaths that followed. Like I said, because of who she is and the reputation that precedes her, I have difficulty believing the Emerson spokesperson when he states they are not even aware of the arrival of Brockovich-Ellis and the lawsuit her firm is interested in taking on against the company.

In an earlier post, TCE: groundwater contamination in toxic triangle of cancer, we shared a story about residents in Texas who plant small purple crosses in the front lawns of those who have been diagnosed with cancer. They believe they have been poisoned by the TCE that was dumped at a military base for decades and subsequently spread for miles through a shallow aquifer under the 22,000 nearby homes where they live. 

As you drive through the neighborhoods surrounding the former Kelly Air Force Base in Texas, you will notice small purple crosses planted in front lawns. The crosses mark the homes of cancer victims. The people who live in these neighborhoods call where they live the toxic triangle. They believe they have been poisoned by the industrial solvent, trichloroethylene, or TCE, that was dumped at the base for decades and subsequently spread for miles through a shallow aquifer under the 22,000 nearby houses.

The local health authorities admit they have found evidence of increased rates of liver cancer and birth defects for the residents of these neighborhoods, but state it is impossible to say that TCE is the cause. The residents are absolutely certain TCE is the cause of the cancers that plague the people who live there. And this same fate is playing out all over the country, in other cities that are home to military bases, industrial plants, nuclear weapons laboratories and NASA centers.