Public Health Assessment for Community Concerns Evaluation, Cheshire, New Haven County, Connecticut;Final rept

摘要

This public health assessment (PHA) evaluates the validity of environmental health concerns of the community in Cheshire, Connecticut. Many of the community concerns focus on cancer and possible links with environmental contamination. The past contamination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the town's drinking water supply is well known within the community and is the primary focus of the PHA. Environmental assessments in Cheshire have focused on the past contamination of the public water supply. The town's public water supply was contaminated with VOCs from the late 1970s through the late 1980s. Aeration towers were installed, which reduced the VOC levels in the drinking water to below the drinking water standards. The VOCs found in the public water supply that exceeded drinking water standards were trichloroethylene (TCE) and 1, 2-dichloropropane (DCP). The possible ways people could have been exposed to contaminants in the public water supply in the past are through direct contact with the contaminated water (ingestion, skin contact, inhaling contaminated indoor air).