Love Canal, environmental testing

Envlroiunental testing Is a critical element In this process since It enables the qualitative and quantitative determination of toxic chemicals In the environment and the definition of environmental pathways which may lead to human exposure This paper briefly reviews the overall process of health risk assessments and the particular role which environmental testing plays Recent efforts to assess environmental health risks In relation to Love Canal Illustrate both the usefulness and the limitations of environmental testing In risk assessment ... 

Since simultaneous health effect surveys were conducted in the Love Canal area, environmental test results In the homes adjoining the Canal were examined in an effort to demonstrate the presence or absence of correlations between environmental chemical levels and frequencies of particular health abnormalities. This effort was largely unsuccessful, since the total exposed population proved to be too small for meaningful interpretation of most health endpoints of Interest and since difficulties in controlling for subjective reporting of health symptoms made it difficult to Interpret health survey results O, ). 

By early 1978, the problems at Love Canal had attracted the attention of the local media as well as the local member of congress. This led to sampling of the site and homes around the canal by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of New York. These tests revealed the presence of benzene in indoor air and seepage of a number of chemicals off-site. These discoveries led to the conduct of preliminary health studies that indicated an increased rate of miscarriages in women living near the canal and identified several cases of congenital abnormalities in children from this same population. 

DHHS 1982. Department of Health and Human Services. DHHS evaluation of results of environmental chemical testing by EPA in the vicinity of Love Canal—Implications... 

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