Ten times worse than benzene California updates its science on two air contaminants

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Two toxic air contaminants present in California’s ambient air, acrolein and ethylene oxide, appear to be much stronger carcinogens than previously known, California environmental health officials announced Thursday.The draft finding from the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment finds the chemicals may pose an estimated cancer risk more than 10 times higher than benzene, a serious carcinogen linked to leukemia and other cancers.It is the first step in a review process before final risk values are adopted.“If the early air monitoring results bear out, and if the draft cancer values developed are close to what eventually becomes final, then each air contaminant poses an unacceptable cancer risk,” said Kris Thayer, OEHHA’s director.The update reflects the state’s evolving understanding of its most dangerous pollutants, which has shifted over the decades from visible pollutants, such as smog, to more invisible ones that cause cancer, heart disease and other health harms.It comes only two months after the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency moved to roll back standards on ethylene oxide, or EtO, in an effort to save millions of dollars in compliance costs for facilities that use the chemical for medical sterilization.

The administration said it acted to “safeguard the supply of essential medical equipment,” but experts said the move will also expose more people to health risks.It also follows a new national report from the American Lung Assn.

that found 82% of Californians live in counties with unhealthy air, nearly double the national average.“This is an important step to better understanding the harms of pollutants impacting Californians’ health,” said Will Barrett, assistant vice president for nationwide clean air policy at the American Lung Assn., who reviewed the state’s findings for The Times.

“Following the la...