An Oklahoma field project has uncovered harmful toxins in the Western Hemisphere for the first time, according to new research.
Scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder were in Oklahoma to study how microscopic airborne particles develop and change over time. While collecting data, the team identified something they weren’t originally expecting to find.
Tests picked up Medium Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (MCCPs), a group of toxic organic chemicals classed as pollutants.
MCCPs have previously been detected in locations including parts of Asia and Antarctica, but they had not been documented in the Western Hemisphere in places such as the United States.
A 2018 review of MCCPs reported that the chemicals are harmful to aquatic environments, that levels in sediment near local sources can exceed toxicity thresholds, and that measurements across soil, wildlife, and many sediment cores show upward trends over recent years and decades.
With evidence suggesting MCCPs are becoming more common, some researchers have argued they should be considered for regulation under the Stockholm Convention. The international agreement, which took effect in 2004, aims to safeguard human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
MCCPs are widely used in industry, including in metalworking fluids and in manufacturing products such as PVC and textiles, according to ScienceDaily.
The UK Government also notes they are used in aerospace and defence applications, including items like aircraft carpet tapes, cargo liner tapes, tamper proof putties, pinhole fillers, urethane adhesives, and various adhesives, sealants, and coatings.
One reason these substances can spread is that they may enter wastewater systems and later appear in biosolid fertilizer, also known as sewage sludge. In this case, researchers suspect the MCCPs detected in Oklahoma may have originated from nearby farmland treated with biosolid fertilizer close to the sampling site.
Daniel Katz, CU Boulder chemistry PhD student and lead author of the study, told ScienceDaily: “When sewage sludges are spread across the fields, those toxic compounds could be released into the air.
“We can’t show directly that that’s happening, but we think it’s a reasonable way that they could be winding up in the air. Sewage sludge fertilizers have been shown to release similar compounds.”
He went on to say of their findings: “It’s very exciting as a scientist to find something unexpected like this that we weren’t looking for.
“We’re starting to learn more about this toxic, organic pollutant that we know is out there, and which we need to understand better.”
Researchers also think the rise of MCCPs could be linked to restrictions placed on short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) through the Stockholm Convention, prompting some manufacturers to shift toward MCCPs instead.
SCCP exposure has been associated with metabolic disorders, organ damage such as liver and kidney toxicity, and an elevated cancer risk. That has raised concerns that MCCPs could potentially carry some of the same health dangers.
However, Katz has stressed that more work is needed to understand the MCCPs now being identified in the US.
“We still don’t know exactly what they do when they are in the atmosphere, and they need to be investigated further,” he said.
“I think it’s important that we continue to have governmental agencies that are capable of evaluating the science and regulating these chemicals as necessary for public health and safety.”