Published in the Asbury Park Press
By JEAN MIKLE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
TOMS RIVER -- Union Carbide Corp. may decide to conduct its own toxicity studies of a chemical compound found in three United Water Toms River wells if a dispute over the test methodology cannot be resolved, a Carbide official said last night.
"If we cannot reach consensus, then Carbide may go out and do the testing on its own," said Mark E. Tapp, manager of remediation for Carbide.
Tapp said, however, that company officials still hope to reach consensus on the testing methodology so that Carbide can continue to participate with the study group - which includes toxicologists and representatives from government agencies - that is researching the toxicity of styrene acrylonitrile trimer.
The trimer, a chemical compound related to plastics production, has been found in tiny amounts in United's wells 26, 28 and 29. Scientists are attempting to determine if the trimer is a human carcinogen, a process that could take five to eight more years.
Carbide's participation in the study group is considered crucial since the company has been paying for the production of trimer to be studied by researchers.
Preliminary test results have been inconclusive, with acute testing of the trimer showing it to be less toxic than caffeine.
Members of the Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster, and Dover Township residents have argued that low-term, low-dose studies would more accurately mimic the exposure a person would have from ingesting the trimer in drinking water.
The dispute within the toxicology group has arisen about the type of cancer testing that will be done on rats.
John Gorin, the federal Environmental Protection Agency's remediation manager for the Reich Farm Superfund site, said one approach, considered more radical by researchers, would include trying to duplicate in a rat study what researchers think happened to children exposed to the trimer in Dover.
That would include giving pregnant rats a dosage of the chemical compound similar to what pregnant women would have ingested, and then giving a dosage to rat pups that would mimic the amount of the trimer a child might have ingested in drinking water.
The other method under consideration would include feeding pregnant rats very high concentrations of the trimer, and feeding the pups very high amounts, until they develop tumors. The results would then be analyzed by risk assessors who would determine the risk of cancer development from ingesting the chemical.
Gorin said the majority of researchers in the group favored the more traditional method, but so far the group has been unable to reach a consensus about which type of study to do.
Tapp said Carbide still plans to make more trimer this summer to be used in future studies, and will hire an independent laboratory to do the work if the toxicology group cannot reach consensus about the type of study.
"I would hope that United Carbide will not take the ball and leave the game and go home," said Linda L. Gillick, who chairs the citizens committee.
She said the public will have much more confidence in the results of toxicity testing supervised by state and federal environmental officials, and not Carbide itself.
Independent hauler trucked in Union Carbide waste to the Reich Farm during the 1970s. A plume of underground contamination from the Reich Farm which reached the nearby Well 26 about 10 years ago and later showed up in Well 28. Officials suspect it was drawn toward Well 29 last summer when increased demand led United Water to pump the well beyond its usual rate of 400 gallons per minute.
Source: Asbury Park Press
Published: June 15, 1999
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