DNR committed to helping schools and communities evaluate their environmental risks from air toxics

National and local reports published Monday, December 8, about toxic chemical releases and health risks to Iowa’s school children, raised concern in a number of communities. In response to this report the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has initiated an in-depth evaluation of the information. Early problems identified with information that is the basis for the study, and concern that specific site and community information were not used to characterize these risks, prompted our action.

The study commissioned by USA Today utilized a computer model to project whether some of Iowa’s schools districts are at high risk for exposures to toxic chemicals in the air. Neither short-term health risks nor specific actual long-term risks can be determined by ranking scores in a study that fails to include carefully generated emissions information, or utilize meteorology, topography, or other critical site specific information. Nor should this method be used to make specific comparisons between one particular school in Ohio and all of the different situations that arise in Iowa communities, as this report tried to do.

EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), the source of information used in the USA Today study, was based on estimated information with little review and potential for flaws. Mis-categorized information that was the basis of the projection of high risk for a number of schools has already been identified. The risk ranking model (Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators - RSEI), is designed to help communities identify situations that may require further study. The scores should only be used to compare very similar situations to another, but they are not actual health risk ratings or comparisons of very different local situations.

We are committed to looking more in-depth at the data presented in this study by applying careful scrutiny to emissions information and evaluating it with consideration of the specific local conditions. Using accurate inputs and refined tools that can more accurately portray what is in the air will help us determine risks and when appropriate actual monitoring should be conducted.

As we proceed with our review of verified emissions information applied in site specific evaluations, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Public Health, the School Administrators of Iowa, and Iowa School Board Association will work together to provide a more clear assessment of air toxic risks.

Catharine Fitzsimmons
DNR Air Quality Bureau Chief