Re: Increased Suicide Rate is Possibly Linked to Chemicals from Asphalt Plants

From: hanson (hanson_at_quick.net)
Date: 12/18/04 

Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2004 03:46:32 GMT

It has been known for a century+ that exposure to H2S, CS2
and other Mercaptans causes severe depressions.
Also, that such volatile S-compounds are released from hot asphalt
has been known for 150 years of more. So, to make a big deal out
of it serves no other purpose than generating new permit charges
and user fees for the green shits. Below is a typical enviro post
that sells fear. It's a typical green scam of assuming a preconceived
outcome and then fudge the data and cook the books to prove it.
DIE OF DEPRESSION, ALL YOU ENVIROS! *** YOU, GREEN TURDS!
hanson

"jdaves" <jdaves@nob.biz> wrote in message
news:mkg0s09oeg7st395u5do7beccdacgbtn3t@4ax.com...
> Exposure to low levels of hydrogen sulfide and possibly other airborne
> chemicals from nearby asphalt plants may have contributed to an
> increased suicide rate in a North Carolina community, a study suggests
> for the first time. In 2003, the suicide rate in two Salisbury, N.C.,
> neighborhoods was found to be 192 per 100,000 individuals a year,
> roughly 16 times the statewide average, as stated in community reports
> confirmed by death certificates for that year by the Blue Ridge
> Environmental Defense League (BREDL).
>
> From Duke University:
>
> Increased Suicide Rate is Possibly Linked to Chemicals Released from
> Nearby Asphalt Plants
>
> Exposure to low levels of hydrogen sulfide and possibly other airborne
> chemicals from nearby asphalt plants may have contributed to an
> increased suicide rate in a North Carolina community, a study suggests
> for the first time.
>
> In 2003, the suicide rate in two Salisbury, N.C., neighborhoods was
> found to be 192 per 100,000 individuals a year, roughly 16 times the
> statewide average, as stated in community reports confirmed by death
> certificates for that year by the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense
> League (BREDL).
>
> The study's lead author is Dr. Richard H. Weisler, adjunct professor
> of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
> School of Medicine, adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry at Duke
> University Medical Center and BREDL volunteer.
>
> Other collaborators in this research were Dr. Jonathan R.T. Davidson,
> professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center; Dr. Lynn
> Crosby, a toxicologist with BREDL; Lou Zeller, BREDL director; Hope
> Taylor-Guevera, director of Clean Water for North Carolina; Sheila
> Singleton, executive director of the N.C. Depression and Bipolar
> Support Alliance; and Melissa Fiffer and Stacy Tsougas, undergraduates
> at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and BREDL
> summer interns.
>
> The neighborhoods comprising two U.S. census tract block groups
> contained a total of 1,561 residents who were living immediately
> downwind from a liquid asphalt terminal; an asphalt hot-mix plant,
> which also contained a former N.C. Department of Transportation
> solvent-contaminated cleanup site where the DOT had previously dumped
> solvents used for testing asphalt; and a contaminated former petroleum
> tank farm.
>
> Between 1994 and 2003, death certificate evaluations for the two
> Salisbury neighborhoods showed a 3.5-fold statistically significant
> increase in the suicide rate, the study found. Four deaths by suicide
> in adults were reported from the 687 residents in the census tract
> block group 1. Three deaths by suicide in adults were reported among
> the 874 residents of census tract block group 2. Only two deaths by
> suicide would be expected for this population over a 10-year period,
> but seven suicides were observed.
>
> ''For example, here in the block group 1 neighborhood in the mid-90s,
> we found one death by suicide for about every 230 people during the
> worst 12-month period, versus an average of one death by suicide for
> every 8,621 people in the rest of North Carolina,'' Weisler said.
> ''When we saw this data it gave us pause.''
>
> Weisler said of hydrogen sulfide, ''The odor was frequently apparent
> when I lived there as a child and later when I visited my mother, who
> lived in the neighborhood from 1962 until her death in 2001.''
>
> That year (2001), the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural
> Resources (NCDENR) estimated the average maximum hydrogen sulfide
> level in a large part of the affected area at 215 parts per billion
> (pbb), while some sections of the neighborhoods were reported as low
> as 30 ppb. Moreover, based on their own air modeling study, the NCDENR
> estimated that historical releases of hydrogen sulfide reached average
> maximum levels of 860 ppb in a few residences very near the asphalt
> facilities.
>
> By comparison, the World Health Organization has a 10-minute exposure
> standard of five ppb. The California one-hour standard is 30 ppb. The
> newly revised, but not yet implemented, North Carolina 24-hour
> hydrogen sulfide standard is 86.2 ppb.
>
> These exposures accompanied 574 formal complaints to the City of
>
> Salisbury from March 11, 1999, to Oct. 15, 2004, for noxious odors and
> associated respiratory problems, which are still occurring -- though
> at a reduced rate -- said Weisler.
>
> In addition to suggestions of an increased suicide rate, the incidence
> rate of primary brain cancers in these neighborhoods from 1995 to 2000
> showed an increase about 6.4 times greater than expected for the
> population, possibly due to benzene and other solvent exposures,
> Weisler said.
>
> Several studies have shown increased rates of lung and brain cancer
> among workers with long-term exposure to asphalt emissions, the
> researchers said.
>
> Weisler and his study team made a hypothetical link between hydrogen
> sulfide and suicides due to biological plausibility. They noted that
> hydrogen sulfide affects brain neurochemistry as a direct gaseous
> neuromodulator that potentially affects mood states and the
> psychological stress response. In animal studies, it has been shown to
> alter the neurotransmitters serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine,
> aspartate and glutamate levels.
>
> Hydrogen sulfide also affects the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis
> and corticotropin releasing factor in animal studies, the report said.
>
> ''This is the part of the brain involved in the stress response, and
> we think it's also involved in psychological resiliency, how people
> deal with stressors,'' Weisler said. ''It's frequently associated with
> mood disorders, and there are suggestions that resiliency is impaired
> when people are suicidal.''
>
> The study team reported that additional neurotoxic compounds such as
> benzene, chlorinated solvents and carbon disulfide, among others, were
> released in unknown quantities by the asphalt terminal and hot-mix
> asphalt plant. Carbon disulfide, also a neurotoxin, has been linked to
> personality changes, mood disorders and suicides in occupational
> settings, the researchers said.
>
> In addition, ''Some research suggests that highway workers exposed to
> asphalt-solvent fumes show an increase of suicide rates and brain
> cancers.''
>
> A full characterization of the types of chemicals and the levels of
> releases at the liquid asphalt terminal is needed, said Weisler.
>
> Also needed, he added, is the retrospective ground water contamination
> modeling study called for in 2002 by the N.C. Department of Health and
> Human Services to more completely understand the possible causes of
> health problems in the affected neighborhoods.
>
> ''I do not know if ground water modeling would help us understand the
> suicides, but since there were exposures it would be quite useful to
> have that modeling information. The same modeling would certainly help
> with interpreting the cancer data as people with brain, lung, blood,
> pancreatic, breast, and colon cancers had been or may have been using
> solvent contaminated well water for extended periods,'' Weisler said.
>
> Davidson said the most important point for people to remember is that
> effective treatments exist for suicidal depression.
>
> ''Given that suicide can be a tragic consequence to depression, people
> who are experiencing persistent symptoms of depression should contact
> their health-care provider for a professional evaluation,'' he said.
> ''The findings of this study may suggest another potential risk factor
> for suicide, but this needs to be confirmed in future studies.''
>
> The most common symptoms of depression include loss of interest in
> activities once considered pleasurable, social withdrawal, changes in
> appetite, low mood, inability to function effectively in work or
> family situations and, often, a feeling of hopelessness and despair.
> ''It is the hopelessness that can lead to suicidal thoughts or
> actions,'' Davidson added.
>
> A person with a family history of suicide attempts or substance abuse
> may be at greater risk than others, he said, adding that the study
> findings may eventually suggest yet another risk factor for suicide --
> making further study all the more important.
>
> Weisler and Davidson both emphasized the need to educate residents of
> the affected areas about mood and anxiety disorders as well as
> substance use disorders and their treatments.
>
> City of Salisbury and Rowan County Health and Mental Health officials
> are working with suicide and chemical exposure experts at the U.S.
> Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to implement a
> psychoeducation and referral program for area residents, as well as
> educational programs for area health and mental health providers,
> Weisler said.
>
> Formal health studies of the two neighborhoods and other potential
> sites with chemical exposures are being planned in further
> collaboration with the CDC and UNC's School of Public Health.
>
> The health status of residents who died by suicide will be
> investigated further in a study involving Dr. Steven B. Wing,
> associate professor of epidemiology, and others at UNC's School of
> Public Health.
>
> Significant steps have already been taken, said Weisler, but reducing
> potentially toxic exposures from the industrial plants and safe
> cleanup of the solvent and petroleum contaminated area sites will be
> crucial.
>
> ''We do not know with scientific certainty that the area suicides are
> linked to hazardous chemical exposures, but we know enough to
> recommend that it is not worth taking any more chances on the
> potential association.''
>
> Weisler presented the findings Nov. 19 to the 17th Annual U.S.
> Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress in San Diego.
>