Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative, Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (2023). Thus, non-parametric (NP) statistical tests were applied for all variables in the study except the LE for which both parametric and NP tests were used. Health 80, 2229 (2017). Google Scholar. What is a Superfund Site? - WorldAtlas Peer review information Nature Communications thanks Gabriel Filippelli, Susan Korrick, and Roohollah Noori for their contributions to the peer review of this work. Independent-Samples KruskalWallis Test and MannWhitney U test were applied to find a significant difference in LE, if any, among tracts with Superfund sites with different properties in flooding, NPL status, and cleanup conditions. The nation's most hazardous waste sites go on the Superfund list, named for a pool of federal dollars created to help clean the properties. J. Med. All of the selected sociodemographic variables showed a significant (P-value<0.01) correlation with LE. For tracts with income higher than the national median, the effect of Superfund Site on LE was calculated by summing the Superfund Site and binary dummy for income (0.58 + 0.90 = 0.32 years, where 0.90 years represent the combined effect of Superfund site and higher than median income). and JavaScript. BMJ Open 2, e000828 (2012). 33, 270282 (2016). Importantly, in this study it was assumed that the LE data from 20102015 are reflective of populations residing in a given census track long enough for site exposures to have had an impact on LE. Links to details about each site. Considering the latency between carcinogenic exposure and disease onset, the adverse effect of living near a Superfund site may only be directly observable among persons who are still living in proximity of a given site after a relatively long period of time. Implications of Hurricane Harvey on environmental public health in Harris County, Texas. Another classification was considered based on the presence of Superfund sites on the NPL35. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, was enacted by Congress on December 11, 1980. Superfund Sites in Waterbury - Connecticut General Assembly Interestingly, high income could completely offset the harmful effect of Superfund sites as shown in Fig. (accessed 5 February 2020). This improving impact could be explained by the fact that wealthier people living in a tract with a Superfund site have access to better homes (e.g., farther away from exposure paths41) and health care systems resulting in less exposure and better health conditions. Soc. Indexes to Sites County Superfund Sites in Ector County Superfund Sites in Ector County Current and former Superfund sites located in Ector County, Texas. Article Regional inequalities in benzene exposures across the European petrochemical industry: A Bayesian multilevel modelling approach. 132, 104812 (2019). 17, 3137 (2007). PubMed [2] As of August 17, 2022, there were 1,329 Superfund sites on the National Priorities List in the United States. Hazardous waste sites are scattered all across the country, from a Brooklyn canal once surrounded by chemical plants to a shuttered garbage incineration facility in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Assoc. Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Nat. For Superfund sites, although the confidence intervals are wide, the general increasing trend could be interpreted as the lower the LE is for various reasons, the effect of Superfund sites is more severe and could magnify the negative effect of other variables. volume12, Articlenumber:1947 (2021) Amin, R., Nelson, A. Related story: Wasteland , By Anna Scalamogna, Jason Treat, and Xaqun G.V., NGM Staff; Meg Roosevelt. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Econ. The presence of Superfund sites as a determinant of life expectancy in the United States. J. Med. What is the difference? Read the news release | Read the proposed rule. Superfund sites pose high risks to the environment as well as human beings. (2019). Superfund was established in 1980 by an act of Congress, giving EPA the funds and authority to clean up polluted sites Goals of Superfund: Protect human health and the environment by cleaning up polluted sites Involve communities in the Superfund process Make responsible parties pay for work performed at Superfund sites 3 The median LE values for all census tracts, tracts with at least one Superfund site, and tracts with no sites were found to be 78.50, 77.50, and 78.7 years, respectively, indicating a difference . Article Millions of Americans Live Near Toxic Waste Sites. How Does This Affect Econ. Only tracts with at least one Superfund site (N=12,717) were chosen to explore the effect of Superfund characteristics. Eagle Mine Superfund site now 5.3 acres smaller as EPA removes portion List of Superfund Sites in Mississippi - US EPA In developed countries, such as in the U.S., where the majority of the population has access to basic health services8, the cause of specific NCDs could be attributed to exposure to chemical and biological hazards from various sources9,10,11,12. race/ethnicity, sex, income, age, sanitation, and education), as well as, the spread of different communicable and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diarrhea, HIV, and cancer5,6,7. a LE in the US estimated by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Marcantonio, R. A., Field, S. & Regan, P. M. Toxic trajectories under future climate conditions. 115, 925985 (2007). The maps were individually compiled for 2485 counties and then merged in ArcMap to generate a national flood hazard map for the contiguous U.S. (see Fig. For citizenship, despite multiple changes in direction, the general trend is increasing the negative effect as the LE increases. How Close Are You to a Superfund Site? | National Geographic EPA (2019). In this study, statistical methods were used to provide evidence of shorter LE in association with residential proximity to a Superfund site even after accounting for measures of sociodemographic confounding. Tob. (2018). 2a has raw data from source 2, and Supplementary Figs. Active65 of these sites have been active since September 1983. Moreover, at least one study in the 28 member states of the European Union revealed a significant positive correlation between exposure to benzene emissions and mortality rates among people who live in the vicinity of emission sources19. 2 shows the effect of Superfund Sites on LE within tracts with at least one site for population with an income below and above the national median. A similar approach to the effect modification was undertaken (using all tracts with available data) to assess the effect of Superfund characteristics on LE. BMC Bioinforma. In 1980 Congress created the Superfund to pay for the cleanup of the countrys most hazardous waste sites. For the purposes of the current study, the matching technique was implemented by considering tracts with Superfund sites as the treated group, and comparing the LE in treated and untreated groups (with no Superfund site). 1. Sci. Superfund History | US EPA As shown in Supplementary Fig. Article Flooding, in addition to inundation of affected land areas, could facilitate the transport of contaminants from Superfund sites and potentially affect neighborhoods farther than the nearby fence-line communities;14,31,32 such effects can potentially be exacerbated by a changing future climate30,33. The town is also set to receive a 62-acre parcel . Article Cancer Causes Control 19, 1323 (2008). KolmogorovSmirnov normality test showed that none of the census datasets are normal. The association between income and life expectancy in the United States, 20012014. Thus, other sociodemographic variables (selected based on the pairwise correlations) were then added in a stepwise manner in the order of their correlation magnitude with the LE (a total of nine OLS regression models). Environ. & Kromhout, D. Mortality and life expectancy in relation to long-term cigarette, cigar and pipe smoking: The Zutphen study. 181, 140 (2018). Available at: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-remedial-annual-accomplishments (accessed 2 January 2020). Rev. Chetty, R. et al. Life expectancy data were downloaded from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) database (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/usaleep/usaleep.html). Google Scholar. Similarly, and for research question 4, effect modification was performed to assess how Superfund sites with different properties, flooding, NPL, and cleanup activities, may affect the LE differently. As of 2019, 1,303 sites are listed on the NPL, and 48 are proposed to be added to the NPL35. There are also plenty of other factors that could lead to cancer, including behaviors like smoking and drinking. One in six Americans lives within three miles of a toxic waste siteoften unknowingly. 39, 85918599 (2005). This outcome could be because higher rates of Above60 directly affect the LE (make it longer) and the fact that in regions with the harmful effect of Superfund sites, the premature death rate could increase. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Does living near a Superfund site contribute to higher polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure? & Amler, R. W. Chemical wastes, childrens health, and the Superfund Basic Research Program. This behavior means, in a tract with low LE, a 10% increase in the insurance coverage or number of people with education beyond high school diploma could lead to a rise of almost a year in LE. As of May 2023, there were 1,336 sites on the National Priorities List split between 50 states. Its now financed by the general fundthat is, by all taxpayers. Table3 shows the breakdown of the number of Superfund sites with different NPL and flooding statuses using the binary approach (a Superfund is considered flooded if it has an intersection with the flooding layers). 19, 270 (2018). 10, 5194 (2019). To protect public health and the environment, the Superfund program focuses on making a visible and lasting difference in communities, ensuring that people can live and work in healthy, vibrant places. The opposite trend was observed for education and insurance. FEMA flood layers, among all other data used in this study, are publicly available. However, inconsistent results were also reported; one study showed no overall maternal-fetal death associated with residential proximity to hazardous waste sites23 while another study showed an increased risk of congenital anomalies due to proximity to Superfund sites that had not been remediated24. United States Environmental Protection Agancy (USEPA) Available at: https://www.epa.gov/superfund-redevelopment-initiative/redevelopment-economics-superfund-sites (accessed 10 July 2020). See 1,317 of the Most Polluted Spots in the U.S. Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Figure2 shows the effect of Superfund presence on LE (Superfund Site) in tracts with sociodemographic variables below and above the national median values. The second approach intended to determine the magnitude of the effect by developing regression models that were used to quantify the potential effect of the presence of a Superfund site (NPL or non-NPL) on the LE in the context of other sociodemographic determinants. Environ. The NPL has two sections: (1) the General Superfund Section consists of sites to be evaluated and remediated under EPA's authority and (2) the Federal Facilities Section consists of federal facilities to be handled by other federal agencies that have jurisdiction over the site. Superfund sites in the United States - Ballotpedia As noted earlier, tracts with Unkown status (N=442) were eliminated from this analysis. Such an offsetting effect caused by being on the NPL list could be a result of the efforts conducted by EPA in redeveloping the economies of neighborhoods with a Superfund site listed on NPL, after cleanup48. The OLS regression model with the NPL dummy variable showed the effect of Superfund sites could be near zero (0.001 years) for tracts with the NPL sites as opposed to 0.217 years for tracts with sites not on NPL. A. et al. [1] These locations are known as Superfund sites and are placed on the National Priorities List (NPL). The MannWhitney U test shows a significant difference in LE between tracts that contain Superfund site listed on NPL (N=1800) and the ones not listed on the NPL (N=10,917, P-value = 1.03E12) with a median LE of 78.2 and 77.4 years, respectively. Search for National Priority List (NPL) 1 Superfund Sites. Dozens of Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) will be required to pay for the cleanup. U.S. Government Accountability Office. c Difference between LE predicted by the Random Forests model and NCHS data. MathSciNet What's involved in cleaning up a Superfund site? PDF United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.c. 20460 Data as of 07-28-2023 19:00. Click an EPA regionon the map to displaysites in a particular region (1-10). National Center for Health Statistics. But hundreds more are works in progressand 95 of them, says the EPA, may be exposing humans to dangerous levels of toxic chemicals. Dearwent, S. M., Mumtaz, M. M., Godfrey, G., Sinks, T. & Falk, H. Health effects of hazardous waste. For the rest of the sites, a batch geocoding was performed based on the available addresses using the Geocodio website61, leading to 11,989 uniquely identified sites (points) in the contiguous U.S. as shown in Fig. PFAS Experts Symposium: Statements on regulatory policy, chemistry and analytics, toxicology, transport/fate, and remediation for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination issues. Proposed Sites have been studied, and cleanup plans proposed. There are likely other variables that could affect LE, and considering them may lower the RMSE, however, such investigation is beyond the scope of this work and can be addressed in future work. Nature Communications Figure1 has raw data from sources 1 and 3 (census tract shapefile, and Superfund NPL status), Fig. 79, 919 (1998). Sci. EPAs Superfund program is responsible for cleaning up some of the nations most contaminated land and responding to environmental emergencies, oil spills and natural disasters. Effect modification analyses were undertaken to investigate whether the presence of Superfund sites has a different effect on LE among different subgroups (stratifications) of sociodemographic variables. All generated results (including the raw data) in both tabulated and shapefile formats have been deposited in the Open Science Framework (OSF) under the name KiaghadiEtAl_Nature_Communications_DATA and are accessible through67. A Superfund site is a term used to describe any land within the USA that is contaminated by various hazardous wastes. (2) What is the magnitude and extent of change in LE that this presence could cause (the quantification question) when sociodemographic determinants are also considered? Such difference, however, could be a combined effect of the sociodemographic variables and Superfund sites together as will be discussed in more detail in the following sections. Variations in the relation between education and cause-specific mortality in 19 European populations: A test of the fundamental causes theory of social inequalities in health. Marsooli, R., Lin, N., Emanuel, K. & Feng, K. Climate change exacerbates hurricane flood hazards along US Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in spatially varying patterns. Rev. Superfund Remedial Annual Accomplishments. Official websites use .gov This minor change could be related to chronic and long-term exposure of people living near a Superfund site and the gap between the existence and start time of cleanup for a site. (2019)12 reported an increase of 0.610.20 years per decrease of 10g/m3 in fine particulate matter concentration in air. J. Expo. Of more than 47,000 waste sites, the EPA has put over 1,700 on the National Priorities List (NPL) since 1982. The percent of the population above 60 years old, and the median income in U.S. dollars showed similar patterns but over the entire LE domain; higher impacts on the upper quantiles of LE. Superfund Sites: 1,317 US Spots Where Toxic Waste Was Dumped - TIME EPA (2019). In order to place these findings in context (i.e., the effect of Superfund site on LE), they are compared to values from other studies. We'll list the number of Superfund sites in each state and territory below. Flooding could introduce new exposure pathways to not only the fence-line communities but also areas located farther. Yu, K., Lu, Z. Click on the map below to see the Superfund sites near you: The name Superfund site comes from legislation Congress passed in 1980 creating a Superfund program at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify and clean up hazardous waste sites. Health 38, 11151124 (2016). EPAs Superfund enterprise management system database. Further analysis beyond NPL-not NPL classification is beyond the scope of this study. Generally, immigrants in the U.S. have longer LE compared to U.S. citizens43, which is compatible with the findings in both effect modification and quantile analysis. New Jersey the densest state by population has more toxic sites than any other state in the country, at 114, with California and Pennsylvania close behind. The MannWhitney U test also showed significant differences for all sociodemographic variables except citizenship among tracts with Superfund sites and the median of their surrounding neighbors (confounding effect). There are approximately 300 regulated CCR facilities nationwide, comprised of approximately 775 coal ash units (240 landfills and 535 . For such cases, only one variable was selected for further analyses and statistical regression modeling; these were LE, the presence of Superfund sites, percent of the population above 60 years old (variable name: above 60), median income in U.S. dollars (variable name: income), percent white (variable name: white), percent of the population with at least one disability (variable name: disability), percent married people (variable name: married), percent of the population with at least one health insurance plan (variable name: insurance), percent of the population with education beyond high school diploma (variable name: education), and percent of U.S. citizens in each tract (variable name: citizenship). PubMed 3, and it decreases for higher LE values. CAS https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/usaleep/usaleep.html, https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/srchsites.cfm, https://www.floodmaps.fema.gov/NFHL/status.shtml, https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/best-healthcare-in-the-world, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?cid=GPD_10&end=2017&locations=AF-US&name_desc=false&start=1960, https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-national-priorities-list-npl, https://www.epa.gov/superfund-redevelopment-initiative/redevelopment-economics-superfund-sites, https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-remedial-annual-accomplishments, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, An applied environmental justice framework for exposure science, Geneenvironment interactions and their impact on human health. (3) How does the effect of Superfund sites on LE vary in tracts with different sociodemographic characteristics? In cases where two or more Superfund sites were found within a tract, the priority classification was given to prone to flood, NPL, and no cleanup for flooding, site type, and cleanup status, respectively. Sci. Such investigation is especially relevant given the measurement error inherent in confounding measures and in the use of contextual measures. This difference in the effect of LE could be due to how flooding affects the fate and transport of chemicals from the contaminated sites. For lower LE quantiles, the effect of these two sociodemographic factors is higher as shown in Fig. The NPL is intended primarily to guide the EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation. While not on the NPL, for the remaining Superfund sites, EPA evaluates other cleanup options such as the Superfund Alternative Approach, State Tribal Cleanup, Other Federal Agency (FFOCA), and EPA Emergency Response and Removals. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.4226 (2016). Available at: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-national-priorities-list-npl (accessed: 2 January 2020). 1076, 439448 (2006). List of Superfund sites in Colorado - Wikipedia In order to ensure that the potential observed difference in LE is not due to the innate differences in LE among neighboring census tracts, the matching analyses were repeated for all tracts without consideration of the presence or absence of Superfund sites within them. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted using smaller and larger radii. Google Scholar. Table1 shows the P-values for the MannWhitney U test conducted for matching analyses. The presence of a Superfund site could cause a decrease of 0.1860.027 years in LE. 2. Landrigan, P. J. et al. PubMed An initial OLS regression model was developed with just the Superfund site as the independent variable and LE as the dependent variable. The following sections describe the two approaches in more detail. PubMed Central 5. Ratnapradipa, D., Cardinal, C., Ratnapradipa, K. L., Scarbrough, A. For flooding classifications, the pairwise comparison showed a significant difference between sites prone to flood and the ones with minimal flood risk. Frequently Asked Questions The Questions What is the Superfund? The flooding percentage could also change by changing the radius size. Pensacola, FL 32505. Income and Superfund site had the highest and lowest impacts, respectively. Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter what matters in science, free to your inbox daily. Hanadi S. Rifai. Public Health Rep. 116, 474483 (2001). This is consistent with the effect modification findings where Superfund sites in tracts with a married ratio above the national median showed no impact, on average, on LE. Review Superfund program measures and progress, Learn about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. conducted all the analyses, and all the authors helped in results interpretation. In general, lower citizenship means higher immigrants, which potentially could mean lower residential time within a neighborhood and eventually shorter exposure time. The Final National Priorities List (NPL) Sites indicates the status and number of sites on the NPL. Environ. Anenberg, S. C. & Kalman, C. Extreme weather, chemical facilities, and vulnerable communities in the U.S. Gulf Coast. Table2 shows the statistics for the developed model and its coefficients. Soon She'll Start 7th Grade, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Disability did not show a noteworthy difference (0.04 years) between below and above the median values (even for the low 10% percentile). Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital New York City now has four Superfund sites. Where are they? - NY1 10 shows the number of Superfund sites at each flooding level defined as the ratio of Superfund area located in the floodplains defined by FEMA to the total area. Kiaghadi, A., Rifai, H.S. Q. J. Econ. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. It is noted that the outcome of the non-linear model cannot be easily interpreted with regards to the effect of each input variable, thus, if the performance of RF in predicting the LE is similar to the one from the OLS regression, it would justify the use of the OLS model. & Stone, R. Incidence of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and residential proximity to Superfund sites in Kentucky. As of May 1, 2010, there were eighteen Superfund sites on the National Priorities List in Colorado. Ann. CAS Thus, it could be concluded that the effect of being on the NPL is very influential. Google Scholar. Including proposed, final and deleted NPL sites and non-NPL Superfund Alternative Approach (SAA) sites. However, it would justify the inclusion of the sociodemographic variables within the ordinary least squares (OLS) model to offset the confounding effect. By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. Bennett, J. E. et al. PubMed Central Furthermore, the quantile regression analyses were performed to investigate additional aspects of the relationship between LE and the selected independent sociodemographic variables. However, the final OLS regression model had an RMSE of 2.694 years using all data. A.K., H.S.R. Locator map. Read the news release | Learn about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Black-white inequalities in mortality and life expectancy, 1933-1999: Implications for Healthy People 2010. Superfund sites are found all over the world due to the United States' presence in multiple countries through private business, government, and military programs.
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