Oven and window cleaners. Drano. Mr. Clean. Ajax. Carpet Shampoo. Toilet bowl cleaner. Laundry detergents and bleach.
We all know about the dangers these household chemicals pose to growing bodies, which is why we child-proof our bathroom and kitchen cabinets well before curious little ones are mobile. But your children's developing neurological systems could be put at risk everyday from something as seemingly harmless as the water they drink and bathe in.
“All of [my and my neighbor’s] kids had breathing problems. My husband and I would get rashes occasionally that we just relegated to the laundry detergent or soap,” says Rena Meyer, a mother of two who used to live in a trailer park in Orange County, New York. She says that many people in her neighborhood have experienced strange rashes, unusual blood blisters and respiratory illnesses since about the mid 1990’s.
Not much was made of the illnesses in the park until about 1997 when an interesting discovery was made: the water supply had somehow been contaminated with a methyl tertiary butyl ether or MTBE - gasoline additive that helps boost the fuel’s octane, causing it to burn cleaner.
MTBE is a colorless, man-made liquid that has been added to gasoline since the 1990 Clean Air Act which mandated that the chemical be mixed with all gasolines sold in the US. to help reduce the amount of pollution emitted from the nation's automobiles.
Unfortunately, MTBE-treated gasoline - stored in gas tanks that are buried underground - often leaks out of the tanks and into ground water supplies. Having been found in lakes, streams, creeks and an estimated 20% if the nation’s urban wells, it has also been detected in the ground water of 49 states. Unlike other gasoline additives, MTBE adheres to water molecules and does not break down into less harmful chemicals which causes ground water contamination. As a result, it has become the second-most common water contaminant in the country (lead is number one).
In laboratory tests, MTBE was shown to be extremely toxic in high doses, causing lymphoma, leukemia and testicular cancers in laboratory rats. It is also known to cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, eye, nose and throat irritation in humans following short-term exposure and is believed to possibly cause central nervous system, liver, kidney, adrenal gland and reproductive system disorders as well. Because of the studies, some have suggested that MTBE be classified as a carcinogen and banned from use in the US entirely.
In July of 1999, a congressional blue-ribbon panel recommended that a phase out of the chemical be planned and last November, New York Gov. George Pataki signed a bill that reduced the “acceptable” levels of MTBE in state drinking water from 20-40 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion, guidelines which are the most stringent in the nation. In May of 2000, Pataki signed another bill banning the use, sale and importation of fuels containing MTBE which will begin in 2004. But because the Environmental Protection Agency warned about the dangers of MTBE as early as 1987 the gradual phase out of the additive may be a case of too little, too late.
“We are not being protected by our government at all,” says Deborah Palmentari, vice president of Oxybusters of New York, USA, a grass-roots organization formed to make people aware of the health risks associated with MTBE and get the chemical banned from use nationwide. "People are saying that we should be happy because MTBE has finally been banned, but...can’t they see how far 2004 is away?”
Her family has had a rash of health problems in recent years which she attributes to the MTBE detected in her home’s well water. Almost every member of her family has come down with out-of-the-ordinary illnesses, including the physical, behavioral and emotional delays suffered by her youngest son, Jimmy; the treatment for teen depression and psychiatric disorders for her son, Nick; extreme forgetfulness, stomach aches and diarrhea for husband, Jim, and two dogs who had to be put to sleep because of advancing cancers.
Palmentari says that MTBE was first detected in her family’s water by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in November of 1995, although they never located the contamination source. “But, that doesn’t mean that is when it first came here,” she says, adding that her sons, who drank lots of water straight from the tap, started exhibiting physical and emotional problems, including constant congestion, sever stomach aches, weird rashes and violent, aggressive behavior when they were 18 months and 10-year-old respectively - just months after the family moved into their Orange Lake home.
The DEC installed two four-foot carbon filters that work to rid the water of the contaminate and she has installed other filters on the kitchen and bathroom sinks. Although the DEC tests the water every two months and the levels are well below US Environmental Protection Agency safety levels, Palmenteri says that when she changes the kitchen and bathroom filters every week, they smell like turpentine, the distinct odor associated with MTBE.
Putting their money where their mouths are, Palmentari and Oxybusters president Diane Atkins of Liberty have has begun a letter-writing campaign to state assembly members and senators asking for their help in getting MTBE banned sooner. They have begun soliciting testimonies from people who think their families have been effected by the chemical.
Currently, there is a class action law suit being filed in New York State for homeowners whose water has been contaminated by MTBE, but, Palmenteri says the maximum amount recoverable is only for the value of the effected home. “I doesn’t cover medical costs or anything like that,” she said.
For now, Palmenteri said she will keep working to get chemical banned while making others aware of the hazards of MTBE. She has designed a bumper sticker that she hopes will prompt a lot more people to get their water tested for the chemical.
“People have to know what a horrible nightmare this is,” Palmenteri says. “It is everywhere and most people don’t even know it.”
“Every single child that I know that was exposed to it got sick," Meyer adds. "All of our kids had breathing problems that they’d never had before. It might have been a coincidence, but you don’t know what it will do to any of us down the road.”
For More Information:
Oxybusters of New York, USA
P.O. Box 10541
Newburgh, NY
e-mail: Debpalm6@yahoo.com.
Get information on water testing, the latest nation-wide MTBE ban and how you can protect your family from harmful affects of MTBE.
SIDEBAR:
Fast Facts
It is estimated that Ritilan use has increase by 600% since MTBE was first introduced.
For every 10 gallons of gasoline pumped, one is pure MTBE.
75-100 million people live in areas where MTBE is used.
Nationwide monitoring by state municipalities for MTBE contamination will not be required until later this year.
Boiling water for drinking doesn’t rid it of MTBE because heat converts the chemical into formaldehyde and acetone, the vapors of which should not be inhaled for an extended period of time.
Although they have no idea how to actually de-contaminated water supplies, the EPA estimates that it may take years to make sure that contaminated water is MTBE-free.
Felicia Hodges is a writer/editor from Upstate, New York.
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