Reynolds Road Groundwater Contamination Site, Barnwell County, South Carolina

摘要

The Epidemiology and Medicine Branch (EMB) of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) provided assistance to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to determine the blood level of selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of four residents of Barnwell County, South Carolina whose well water is contaminated with VOCs. Barnwell County had been supplying these households with bottled drinking water since 1987 because some VOCs were present in the water supply of these households. The source of the contamination is still undetermined. EMB proposed to survey the four residents of Barnwell County who were drinking bottled water but who continued to use contaminated water for other purposes (laundry, humidifier, showering, etc.) and to evaluate their exposure to VOCs from water usage other than drinking. The survey was to determine the level of VOCs in the blood of those residents and to evaluate exposure to VOCs through the use of a questionnaire. Blood tests were performed on four persons residing in two potentially affected households. All compounds tested for were either not detected or were below reference levels.