Special Metals/Huntington Alloys Facility in Huntington, WV
The U.S. EPA's 2020 AirToxScreen estimated several areas near the facility with potentially increased health risks for cancer and non-cancer effects
primarily due to 70 years of continuous exposure to nickel air emissions. The EPA report is based on the assumption that the facility emits nickel
subsulfide, which is a known human carcinogen. In response to EPA's report, the WVDEP investigated and subsequently learned that over 90% of the
facility's emissions are nickel alloy, which is much less carcinogenic and hazardous to human health than nickel subsulfide.
The WVDEP is coordinating with the facility and looking into placing air monitors around the perimeter of the facility (known as fenceline monitoring)
to better gauge the concentration of nickel and further assess the areas.
Ethylene Oxide (EtO)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted a study of air toxic emissions across the United States using data from 2014. That data was compiled and released by the EPA in 2018
in a report called the National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA). The NATA was a broad overview of air emissions across the country – commonly referred to as a screening tool – and is designed
to identify areas that may need further investigation.
The 2018 assessment based on 2014 data identified four census tracts in West Virginia, all of which are nearby EtO-emitting facilities in Institute and South Charleston.
The potentially elevated risk is not due to new emission sources or increased emissions from permit holders, but rather to the EPA's finding that long-term exposure to EtO may
be more harmful than previously thought.
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals that have been used in a variety of industries around the world since the 1940s. They include Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), which have been the most extensively produced and studied of these chemicals.
Both PFOA and PFOS have been shown to be persistent in the human body, and PFAS is estimated to be present in the blood of almost all U.S. residents.
PFAS have been used to make cookware, carpets, clothing, fabrics for furniture, paper packaging for food, and other materials that are resistant to water, grease, and stains. They are also used in firefighting foams and several industrial processes.
While drinking water is the primary pathway of exposure to PFAS, they can also be present in soil, air, food, and materials found in homes and workplaces.