By: Tracy Sabetta, Ohio Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: February 20, 2024
About: EPA TSCA Prioritization Webinar
To: Environmental Protection Agency
My name is Tracy Sabetta, and I am the Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force in Pickerington, Ohio, just outside of Columbus. I am the mother of one daughter, and a lifelong resident of the Buckeye State. On behalf of our 90,000 Ohio members, Moms Clean Air Force in Ohio urges the EPA to designate vinyl chloride a High Priority Substance and ultimately ban this harmful chemical.
Vinyl chloride is an explosive, flammable and toxic chemical known to elevate the risk of numerous types of cancers, adverse birth outcomes, asthma, respiratory illness, and kidney disease. Vinyl chloride is used to make polyvinyl chloride plastic (PVC) which can be found in many household items from children’s toys to drinking water pipes. Vinyl chloride can leach into water supplies from PVC pipes and can enter household air when water is used for showering, laundry, or cooking. Children are especially vulnerable to harm from exposure to vinyl chloride since children’s lungs and brains are still developing until early adulthood.
It is critical for the EPA to comprehensively evaluate the risks from all sources of vinyl chloride exposures, including spills, incidents, and leaks during production, use, disposal, and transportation. Ohioans became acutely aware of vinyl chloride when a train carrying the substance derailed in the community of East Palestine. Approximately 1.1 million pounds of vinyl chloride were released and then burned, spewing an extremely large volume of toxic gasses into the air, water, and soil. Many are having negative health impacts from exposures and no one knows for sure what the long-term effects will be for the residents and others in the area.
We also urge the EPA to evaluate the risk of vinyl chloride cumulatively in combination with other chemicals that are produced, used, or released together. Exposure to multiple chemicals with similar harmful effects, such as cancer, heightens the susceptibility to harm from each individual chemical and can compound health effects.
The petrochemical industry has a long history of putting the health and safety of community members and workers at risk. My father worked for decades at the “Chemical Shore” in Ashtabula, Ohio. Our family lived nearby, and I remember as a child smelling the chemicals in the air and water. Many people who lived closest to the plants developed illnesses and were diagnosed with cancer. I vividly remember an explosion at the plant in 1986 that killed two, injured 18, and sent my father to the hospital for decontamination. The surrounding area where chemicals were discharged into the water is now a superfund site. The EPA knows so much more now and has a responsibility to act on the information to protect our children and families.
Again, Moms Clean Air Force urges the EPA to designate vinyl chloride a High Priority Substance and ultimately ban this harmful chemical. Thank you