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Data released today by DEQ confirms concerns of heavy metal pollution around the Abernathy School. |
DEQ: air quality monitoring data shows high levels of cadmium and arsenic in the air near Southeast 22nd Ave. and Powell Boulevard less than a mile from Abernathy Elementary School.
Exposures to cadmium and arsenic, like lead and mercury, have significant negative effects on the neurological development of children especially. EPA considers cadmium to be a probable human carcinogen. EPA has classified inorganic arsenic as a Group A, human carcinogen. The Abernethy ES community has long been concerned after a 2008 study showed the air quality around the school to be ranked in the bottom 2% in the nation due to industrial heavy metal air pollution.
The Smokestack Effect
Concerns were heightened when in 2013, it was reported that since 2010, nine women who live within a one-mile radius in the Abernethy neighborhood of Southeast Portland were diagnosed with breast cancer, six in 18 months. All the women are in their early- to mid-40s, all have children and most of them attend Abernethy Elementary. KOIN news story
More information on possible health effects:
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