Disturbing report about this well known carcinogen: "A Rice University study released in 2006 showed that Houston has a higher concentration of benzene and 1-3 butadiene than anywhere else in the United States. The annual average of 1-3 butadiene, a carcinogen, was at least 20 times higher than any other city in America" http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/18/poor.environment/index.html?iref=newssearch
oh snap! diels-alder reactions everywhere! you know, back in the day......people used to use benzene as an aftershave. its amazing there arent more three-headed people running around. Quote from the article: " There are no laws in either Texas or at the federal level that limit the amount of hazardous air pollutants these companies pump into the air." whaaaaaaaaat??? how is that possible?
That's total BS. As a staff member of one of the largest refineries on the channel, I garan-damn-tee you we are heavily regulated as to how much pollutants are released into the environment. And why in the hell would we "pump" benzene into the air? EDIT: How about this law? The Clean Air Act The Clean Air Act gives EPA important enforcement powers. In the past, it was difficult for EPA to penalize a company for violating the Clean Air Act-the Agency had to go to court for even minor violations. The 1990 Amendments strengthened EPA's power to enforce the Act, increasing the range of civil and criminal sanctions available. In general, when EPA finds that a violation has occurred, the agency can issue an order requiring the violator to comply, issue an administrative penalty order (use EPA administrative authority to force payment of a penalty), or bring a civil judicial action (sue the violator in court).
Benzene isn't purposely pumped into the atmosphere, however it is very stable and thus difficult to react completely. Also, it's use is extremely prevalent in the area contributing to its presence.
the article makes it sound like there is a giant benzene flask being boiled off into the atmosphere. since the supposed source of the benzene is oil refineries, they probably arent trying to "react" it, but just to isolate it from crude oil. even then, with recent advances in heterogeneous catalysis, it really isnt toooooo hard to run large scale reactions with benzene as the substrate. benzene is a major ingredient in gasoline, as well as being present in cigarettes, among other things. I wonder if the kids' parents smoke?
Well, I'm sure it's some combo of the two, and I'm no expert but I always thought the morphylane distilation process was very efficient while the cats in plastics production were... well not so much. I am not sure about other processes it's used in. Benzene content in cigarettes is measured in micrograms, so I'm not sure how large of a contributer they are. Unburned gasoline, being about 2% benzene by volume, will contribute by an order of magnitude more benzene into the area.
I showed this article to some co-workers, and we all agree this is the most irresponsible piece of exploitation journalism we have ever read. It's a scare piece, based in stereotypes and outright falsehoods, with no discernable facts anywhere. Did anyone else catch this: There is an effort under way to get a law passed in Texas, but Professor McGarity said it's going to be an uphill battle because the oil and chemical industry has deep roots in Texas. "That's going to be reflected at the top among the political appointees who are more part of this, shall we say 'Wild West' culture, where anything goes," he said. Geez, why don't we just bring back Judge Roy Bean to oversee this rodeo?
Nobody is concerned that houston has 20 times the benzene level of any other US City? Regargless of the other parts of the article, you don't find that alarming? Benzene is a known carcinogen, that has been proven.
Not really. How long have we known that Houston's the armpit of the nation? We breathe in smog and god-knows-what-else on a daily basis. Houston's also one of the -if not THE- fattest cities in America. What's a little benzene? It's just like a cherry on top!
Not a 100% on this, but I think a company has a set limit that they must stay under to avoid a penalty. I don't think there is a law that limits the amount of companies in an area that have the same emission characteristics. I think Texas's problem is based on the sheer number of facilities and not that any one facility is the sole reason for high concentrations.
20 times the level of other cities means nothing unless it is placed into context. Is the level above the permissible exposure limit for benzene as set forth by OSHA? The PEL for bezene is 1ppm over 8 hours. If the next highest concentration in the country is at .01 ppm over 8 hours, then that puts Houston at .2 ppm for 8 hours, which is well below the PEL standard for benzene. Before vapor recovery facilities were placed at gas pumps, you were exposed to more levels of benzene just filling your car with gas than you would be living ten years on the east side Manchester area.
The Clean Air Act is the law. The author of the article says there is no law governing the release of pollutants. What's worse, she says it in such a way as to imply that companies can dump as much benzene into the air as they please with no worry of being held accountable. That is simply, and unequivocally, false.
She says "companies", not company. Without reading the CAA completely, I don't know if the CAA has a provision that lowers the limits of emissions of company X because company Y next door emits the same chemicals. Without a cumulative adjustment, no total limit is set for all the companies in area, only a limit a specific company can do.
