Jun 4 2010
Residents living near North Carolina foam manufacturing plants were told there were no health risks from polyurethane foam manufacturing emissions, according to the results of a community health study released last week by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS).
After seven years studying air quality, conducting research and taking blood samples of local residents, NC DHHS, with support from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), confirmed there is no evidence of residents near foam plants being adversely affected by possible exposure to toluene diisocyanate (TDI), a chemical used in the manufacture of flexible polyurethane foam.
Health agencies thought there may have been TDI emissions. However, the study results showed only one possible detection at a concentration of one part per trillion, well within safe levels and below the scientific detection limit of the sampling instrument.
Dr. Ricky L. Langley, medical epidemiologist with the NC DHHS who led the study, said, "There is no evidence of adverse public health exposure to TDI. It can be assumed that TDI emissions are not a public health problem in these communities."
Dr. Douglas Campbell, MD, MPH and head of the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch of NC DHHS, noted the role of the flexible polyurethane foam industry in ensuring that plant emissions do not pose a risk to public health: "I'd like to thank industry. They are trying to be as proactive as they can be within the community. I think this study shows that those efforts are paying off."
A similar air monitoring study conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency to measure diisocyanate emissions last fall at sites near seven schools in six different communities in five states also reported non-detectable results.
According to Robert Luedeka, executive director of the Polyurethane Foam Association, "The results confirm what we've always known. U.S. foam plants take great pride in being good neighbors with clean operations. Flexible polyurethane foam is used in hundreds of consumer products to provide comfort, support, safety and durability."
Source: http://www.pfa.org/