Health Effects of Children Living Near Asphalt Plants

Asphalt plants produce fumes. Anyone living near an asphalt plant inhales those fumes on a daily basis. Continual exposure can have health effects on vulnerable people, which would include children, people with breathing problems and the elderly. The extent of the health concerns depend upon the strength of the fumes, the proximity to the plant and the health status of the recipient of the fumes.

Emissions

• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are a group of chemicals that are released during the incomplete burning of organic substances. They are produced at asphalt plants and are released into the air as part of asphalt fumes with potential health hazards as stated by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, other substances found in the fumes include volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, sulfur and nitrogen oxide. Anyone living near asphalt plants will be exposed to some degree to these chemicals on a long-term basis.

Breathing Problems

• Breathing asphalt fumes can lead to asthma in children. The Collaborative on Health and the Environment, in a presentation about asthma and outdoor air exposure, touched on the cause and effect between asphalt fumes and childhood asthma. Fumes can possibly cause asthma, but the fumes will certainly aggravate children who already have asthma. If asthma does not develop from inhalation of asphalt fumes, other breathing problems will occur due to the irritation of the throat and lungs by the fumes.

Cancer

• The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League in North Carolina presented evidence of childhood brain cancers near the asphalt industry in Salisbury, North Carolina. From 1998 to 2003, rare types of brain cancers in areas surrounding the asphalt industry occurred at a rate 11 times what should be expected. These reported brain cancers were all part of increased health problems for residents, including adults, living near the asphalt exposure. The report gave no other explanation for the brain cancers other than the asphalt exposure.

Skin Disorders

• According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, skin rashes and skin cancer are health effects to exposure to asphalt fumes as reported by workers at asphalt plants. Since children are more susceptible to chemicals than adults, living near an asphalt plant could be expected to result in skin disorders. Although the children would be exposed to the fumes at a lower level than the workers, the exposure would be over a greater period of time.