WORST ENVIRONMENATL HEALTH RISKS NAMED

    Indoor air pollution, radon and pesticide residues on food 
present the greatest environmenatl health risks in five 
Mid-Atlantic states, according to a study released recently by the 
federal Environmental Protection Agency.
    The risk study estimated that these three forms of pollution 
accouinted for as many as 4,700 additional cases of cancer a year in 
the region comprising Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delawarde, Virginia 
and West Virginia.
    It was estimated in the regional risk assessment report that air 
pollution and acid rAin were causing more than $1.1 billion in 
damage a year to building, agriculture crops and forest in the 
five-state region. All these estimates were part of a wide-ranging 
study of environmental risks facing the five-state region 
administered by the EPA's Philadelphia office.
    The study examined three basic area: health , welfare, and 
ecology. It was begun in an effort to identify the relative risk of 
the areas environmental problems and allow the EPA to focus its 
attention on reducing those risks, said EPA Reginal Administrator 
Edwin B. Erickson.
    Among 18 possible areas of health risks examined, the most 
serious, according to the study, were:
    *Indoor air pollution, caused by formaldehyde, chlordane, 
asbestos, and tobacco smoke. The EPA estimate that indoor air 
pollution many result in 1,700 additional cases of cancer a year and 
as many as 4,800 other health problems, such as respiratory ailments 
and heart disease.
    *Radon, a nautrally occurring gas created by the decomposition 
of uranium deposits in the ground.Radon can seep into basements and 
collect in homes. The EPA estimates that radon may be causing 1,700 
additonal cases of cancer annually.
    *Pesticide residues on food. These traces of chemicals on 
produce and other foodstuff may account for a many as 1,300 additional 
cancer cases a year.
    Toxic air pollution, Superfund toxic waste sites and 
contaminated ground were ranked much lower on the risk scale. In 
part, this is attributed to the fact that not as many prople are 
exposed to those risks, which are highly localized, said Jeffrey 
Burke, of the EPA.
    Burke added that risks have been reduced to some extent 
through federal regulations and environmental programs.
    The top welfare risks,which measured social and economic 
impacts, were air pollution and acid rain, followed by storm runoff 
pollution, which affects water quality. Air pollution was estimated 
to result in $1 billion worth of damage each year, primarily to 
buildings and crops. Acid rain is the cause of $105 million in 
forest damage each year, according to EPA estimates.
    Development of land and filling in of wetlands are the greates 
risks to the regions ecology according to the EPA study. These 
activites, the report stated,"cause exteremly widesperead, 
devastating and typically irreversible impacts."
    Falling next among the risks to eco-systems was pollution 
from storm runoff, also known as non-point pollution. The study said 
that water quality studies done by the states "showed non-point 
souorces as far as the leading cause of degradation in streams, 
lakes and estuaries."
    In gerneral , the EPA study found that broad, generalized risks 
such as radon, air pollution, storm runoff and acid reain were much 
greater threats than those that often draw public attention, such as 
toxic waste sites, industrial wastes and solid waste, according to 
the report.

    ---ADVANCE for Medical Technologists (7/16/90)