HYANNIS – New chemical screening procedures, eco-toilet studies and more research into contaminants were all part of a wide-ranging report given last week by scientists with Silent Spring Institute, which researches the environment and women’s health. Scientists gave the annual research update October 8 at Barnstable Town Hall.
Researcher Dr. Laurel Schaider said new procedures will allow the institute’s scientists to test for large numbers of chemicals and they want to ensure those tests incorporate the agency’s extensive research on breast cancer.
Schaider also presented data from a new study that looks at chemicals found in household wastewater – chemicals Schaider said could cause cancer.
“These are chemicals that have shown up in higher levels in wells in Hyannis, due to firefighting foams,” she said. “They also show up in private wells all throughout the Cape.”
Schaider reported that Silent Spring is moving to a new, more advanced system of screening for chemicals.
“Moving away from the animal models which are time-consuming and expensive, we’re trying to develop new techniques to rapidly screen thousands of chemicals,” she said.
Schaider also announced that the town of Falmouth will partner with the Institute to study “eco-toilets,” which the town is seeking to encourage homeowners to use in areas that are being sewered. Homeowners that install eco-toilets can opt out of connection to the sewer.
During the question and answer session following the presentation, Sue Phelan from GreenCAPE, the nonprofit Cape Alliance for Pesticide Education, asked whether the scientists could test the five herbicide formulations that Eversource is using to spray on rights-of-way on Cape Cod to clear foliage.
She said, Eversource is using “over 2,000 gallons every season in very concentrated areas and some of them above Zone 2 [areas] of contributions to public water supply wells. And only barely half of the formulations are identified or disclosed by the manufacturer.”
Silent Spring Research Director Ruthann Rudel said, Silent Spring would be testing some pesticide mixtures. “We’ll be testing active ingredients and then the commercial formulations in some of these tissue culture tests to see what we see about the relative toxicity of those two things,” she said.
Diane Turco of Cape Downwinders, which is seeking to shut down the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, asked whether Silent Spring would conduct a study to look at the effects on people on Cape Cod of ionizing radiation that is released by the plant into the environment. A similar study had been commissioned but later dropped by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission using the National Academy of Sciences, Turco said.
Rudel said it had been their understanding that other scientists were working on those studies. “We’re focusing on broader more disperse exposures and sources,” she said. But, she said, if not, Silent Spring would look into doing those studies.
Rudel also announced that Silent Spring has a new computer app that educates people and gives tips on how to avoid toxic chemicals.
By LAURA M. RECKFORD, CapeCod.com News Editor
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