A Tale of Two Cities

Meet Richmond, California. In this community on San Francisco Bay, minorities make up more than 80% of the population. Besides crime and the other usual concerns of city life, the city’s residents have other worries: Richmond is also home to an oil refinery and other heavy industry. The Chevron refinery and other industries bring employment, but along with the jobs come concerns about pollution, especially air pollution.

Not too far away is Bolinas, California, but it’s not what you’d call a sister city to Richmond. This coastal community is known for its beauty, clean beaches, and population of organic farmers, ranchers, and artists. About 90% of residents are white, and incomes are generally higher than in Richmond.

A reasonable expectation of someone living in Bolinas rather than Richmond would be a relatively toxic-free life. But a new study shows it’s not that simple.

A team of scientists from the Silent Spring Institute near Boston set out to explore the kinds of toxic chemical exposures faced by the residents of Richmond. As a comparison community, they selected Bolinas—with its lack of industry, isolated location, and ocean breezes, it served as a sort of control. In both communities, they set up air monitors inside and outside homes, and tested the air for 104 chemicals both indoors and outdoors.

Not surprisingly, researchers found higher levels in Richmond of chemicals like PAHs, persistent toxic chemicals associated with petroleum and combustion, when they tested outdoor air. They also found higher levels of several phthalates, suggesting a source from industry or transportation.

But when it came to toxic chemicals found indoors, the researchers found more similarities than differences. They found phthalates, the flame retardants PBDEs, parabens, and pesticides—all chemicals found in consumer products. Levels of chemicals whose sources are believed to be indoors were just as high in Bolinas as they were in lower-income Richmond.

Sharyle Patton, director of the Commonweal Biomonitoring Resource Center and Bolinas resident, participated in the study. Given the efforts she has made to keep toxic chemicals out of her home, she was surprised at the results. “My home had very high levels of phthalates, just like the rest of the homes tested. We’re learning more and more that we can’t protect our families by the way we shop—we need new laws that keep toxics out of all the products we buy.”

The study also found more chemicals indoors than outdoors: 63 in indoor air, compared to 39 in outdoor air. Concentrations of 32 chemicals were higher inside, whereas only two were higher outside.

According to the study authors, the lack of differences in indoor toxics between Richmond and Bolinas suggests “sources are ubiquitously common across socioeconomic groups.” The residents of Bolinas may have more purchasing power, but they’re just as powerless as the people of Richmond when it comes to buying toxic-free.

Image courtesy of Flickr user ceebeelee.