Environmental contamination associated with biofuel production involving pesticide-coated seed corn as feedstock: a survey of community environmental and health impacts | Environmental Health

Sample characteristics

The analysis included responses from 459 survey respondents from community residents (n = 372), the general public (n = 84), and former AltEn employees (n = 3); response rate 37.8%. A small proportion of addresses were ineligible (n = 29, 3%) and seven refusals were received (0.7%). From Table 1, most respondents lived in a single-family home (89%), were homeowners (85%), and were long-time residents, over 18 years on average. The average household size was 2.7. Households included members from all age groups, ranging from infants to elderly adults over the age of 65. Specifically, the percentage of households that had at least one member in the following age groups are: 0–2 years (4%), 2–11 years (16%), 12–18 years (16%), 19–34 (19%), 35–65 (61%), and over the age of 65 (28%).

Public information

Three survey questions assessed community members’ awareness and sources of public information (Table 2). The majority of respondents (n = 370, 81%) had heard about the AltEn situation prior to receiving the study survey. Respondents first learned about the AltEn situation primarily through living nearby and word of mouth either through neighbors, AltEn employees, or their local employer (n = 72, 16%). Other common sources were social media (n = 70, 15%) or TV (n = 66, 14%). To stay informed, respondents indicated that they received information about the AltEn situation from TV (n = 95, 21%), newspaper (n = 65, 14%), or social media (n = 56, n = 12%). Other less frequently mentioned information sources were radio, internet source other than social media, and word of mouth.

The survey included several questions about environmental concerns related to AltEn activities and potential environmental exposures based on living and working conditions and habits. Most survey respondents (n = 343, 75%) indicated their household was concerned about the AltEn situation (Table 2). Among the households that were concerned, 50% reported being very concerned, and nearly 50% were somewhat concerned. Respondents were also asked to rate their level of stress (no stress, some stress, a lot of stress) for the following categories: compromised health, feeling overlooked by decision makers, financial worry, and feeling the crisis will never be fixed. Most households felt at least some stress across all categories. Feeling the crisis would never be fixed (50%) and having been overlooked by decision makers (41%) were the most frequent causes of ‘a lot of stress’ among worried households. Compromised health led to a reported 22% of respondents feeling ‘a lot of stress’ and another 52% ‘some stress’. Respondents self-reported a range of other drivers of stress including environmental impacts, human and animal health, property values, and plans for the clean-up.

Animal health and environmental concerns

The survey asked about animal ownership and health (Table 3). The majority (73%) of households had a pet(s) with 38% living indoors only, 14% outdoors only or went between indoors and outdoors 47.5%. Furthermore, 19% of households owned livestock. Some respondents accessed veterinary care for pets (85%) or livestock (36%). Animal symptoms were provided by 9 households and included the keywords cancer, neurological, extreme itching, vomiting, constant cough and cold symptoms, hair loss, loss of function in rear legs.

The survey also included questions related to environmental impact concerns including air quality, smell, surface water contamination, well water quality, wet cake application, and soil contamination. Most households were concerned about all stated environmental factors, with more than 80% concerned about well water quality and surface water contamination (Table 4).

The primary sources of drinking water were private well water (55%) and bottled water (45%). Several households relied on filtered municipal tap water for drinking water (n = 107, 23%). The most common filters were refrigerator (n = 48), kitchen sink (n = 32), pitcher (n = 26) and water valve/whole house filter (n = 21). Among all respondents, 74 indicated their main source of drinking water had changed since 2015. Some of the most common reasons included concerns about AltEn activities or water contamination in general (e.g., switching to bottled water), discolored or cloudy water and poor taste and/or smell, or moved away. Lastly, most respondents (74%) had direct contact with soil or dust through work, hobbies or other activities indicating some level of exposure to these outdoor sources.

Household physical and mental health symptoms

We evaluated physical health symptoms of primary respondents using the following question, “Since 2015, have you experienced any health issues that you felt were related to the activities at the AltEn plant?”. Half of the primary respondents (n = 234, 51%) answered ‘no’, while 39% (n = 178) responded ‘yes’ (n = 52, 11.3%) or ‘unknown’ (126, 27.5%) to the question (no response n = 47, 10.2%). Figure 1 displays the number and percentage of self-reported symptoms within each health category. Symptoms related to respiratory (n = 22, e.g., asthma, cough), allergies (n = 17, e.g., allergies, sneezing), sinuses (n = 17, e.g., bloody nose, sinus pain or infection, runny nose), and cognitive/neurological (n = 15, e.g., headaches, migraines) systems were the most frequently mentioned. Supplementary Table 1. Displays the keywords captured from the open-ended responses and grouped into health categories.

Self-reported physical symptoms among primary survey respondents. Self-reported physical health symptoms from open-ended question (Q33) among primary survey respondents that answered, ‘Yes’ to Q32 “Since 2015, have you experienced any health issues that you felt were related to the activities at the AltEn plant?” n = 52. Figure displays the number of symptoms classified into a health category (bars) and the percent (lines). Multiple symptoms could be described by a single respondent

Physical health symptoms were also evaluated for the household members using the following question, “Since 2015, has anyone in your household experienced any health issues they felt were related to the activities at the AltEn plant?”. More than half (n = 250, 54%) answered ‘no’, while 8% answered ‘yes’ (n = 38) or 25.7% ‘unknown’ (n = 118) to the question (no response n = 53, 11.6%). Figure 2 displays the household members’ self-reported symptoms. Regarding mental health, some respondents indicated a member of their household had experienced adverse mental health symptoms related to AltEn activities, responding ‘yes’ (n = 43, 9.4%) or ‘unknown’ (n = 20, 4.4%) to the question, “Starting in 2015, have you or anyone in your household experienced any mental health issues?”. Anxiety and/or depression were the most frequently self-reported mental health symptoms (n = 31, Fig. 2).

Self-reported physical and mental health symptoms– All household members. Self-reported physical and mental health symptoms for each household member (Q37), among primary survey respondents responding ‘Yes’ to the question Q35 “Since 2015, has anyone in your household experienced any health issues they felt were related to the activities at the AltEn plant?” n = 38. Symptoms could be reported for each member of the household separately. Figure displays the number of symptoms classified into a health category (bars) and percentage (line). Household symptoms sample sizes: Member 1 (n = 36), Member 2 (n = 22), Member 3 (n = 9), Member 4 (n = 2), Member 5 (n = 0). Mental health household symptoms “Starting in 2015, have you or anyone in your household experienced any mental heath issues?” (Q43) Yes (n = 43). 40/43 (93%) provided the self-reported mental health system in Q44. Multiple symptoms could be described by a single respondent

Most primary respondents self-reported a symptom onset between 2015 and 2017 (N = 19, 36.5%) or 2018–2020 (N = 22, 42.3%). Lastly, 66 (14%) of households responded yes to any of the substances listed in response to the question, “Since 2015 have you or a member of your household increased the use of tobacco products, alcohol, marijuana, other illicit drugs, or prescription or over the counter drugs not used at directed?”. Specifically, 5% reported increased use of tobacco products, 10% alcohol consumption, 2% marijuana use, 0% other illicit drugs, and 2.6% prescription or over the counter drugs not used as directed.

Access to care

Most respondents had no difficulty accessing health care since 2015, with 11 (2.4%) reporting difficulty accessing medical care and 385 (83.9%) having no difficulty (no response: n = 63, 13.7%). Similarly, 8 (1.7%) of respondents had difficulty accessing mental health care with the majority (n = 378, 82.4%) experiencing no difficulty (no response n = 73, 15.9%). Barriers to care included lack of insurance, wait times, or lost employment.

Lastly, the survey included two questions regarding pregnancy outcomes. The first question asked, “Since 2015, how many pregnancies, including miscarriages, have occurred in your household?” Most responded zero (n = 143, 31.15%) or not applicable-no women of childbearing age/not trying to have children (n = 268, 58.4%), while 48 (10.5%) had at least one pregnancy. The second question asked, “Since 2015, were any pregnancies miscarried?” to which 13 (2.8%) responded ‘Yes’.

Chronic disease diagnoses

Information on self-reported chronic condition diagnoses was collected by the following question, “Since 2015, have you or a member of your household ever been told by a healthcare professional that you or a member of your household have a chronic (long-term) condition?” The majority answered ‘no’ (n = 293, 64%). Among those answering ‘yes’ (n = 79) or ‘unknown’ (n = 27), 80 respondents self-reported a diagnosis of a chronic disease by a health professional after 2015. The most common were respiratory diseases, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic cough (combined n = 22), and heart disease (n = 13).

Among respondents that indicated they or a member of their household had been diagnosed by a healthcare professional with a chronic condition, 18 indicated it was a form of cancer. Self-reported cancer sites included breast, prostate, brain, blood, skin, kidney, lung, bladder, head and neck, musculoskeletal and ovarian. All cancer types had a sample size of less than five.

Community needs

Community needs related to AltEn were collected through an open-ended question. Figure 3 describes the number of responses within each theme (306/459, 67% of respondents). The top three community needs were as follows. (1) Fix it/Clean-up: cleaning the waste and contaminants safely, properly, and quickly (n = 78). Residents were concerned about further contamination of the water, soil, and air, and wondered if their residential environment was safe (i.e., a need for testing and monitoring), (2) Awareness/Information, transparent and clear communication regarding information on current environmental contamination and potential health hazards, and (3) Access to clean and safe water.

Community needs. Community needs identified and coded based on themes. Household respondents were asked to identify their greatest household needs related to AltEn (N = 306)

Respondents were most concerned about the remediation and clean-up of the AltEn site. For example, one respondent commented on removing the wet cake and toxic chemicals: “Needs to be done NOW and not a year from now. There should have been a plan in place before any of this happen[ed].” A second respondent discussed that they had noticed “a lot more sick people in the area” and that “the State and Federal [government] needs to get on board.” A third respondent commented on the inadequacy of previous efforts to cover the waste and smell: “Remove the solid waste from AltEn: covering it (occurred last month) does not help reduce the odor or the runoff/leaching concerns. We are getting very upset with the rate at which this waste product is being removed.”

The second most frequently recognized need was for better communication to increase awareness and sharing of information related to the clean-up and environmental and human health risks. One respondent expressed the need for timely updates to keep community members well informed stating, “frequent ongoing information about what is taking place there regarding health hazards for our community in the future.” Respondents wanted a complete picture on the extent of the contamination, what the associated health risks are and how risks will be mitigated by cleanup efforts. Information was requested from one respondent on “where wet cake was distributed; more information on what the state is doing and what potential impacts are” while another respondent was concerned about contamination around their home writing, “testing of soil, water, and air to confirm whether contamination reached ou[r] property.” Another respondent focused on potential current and future health impacts stating, “seeing how our land and water/animals and health has been affected now and in the future.” The third greatest community need was ensuring access to clean and safe water. Recognizing the ongoing need to monitor water quality in the community a respondent wrote, “I would like to be assured that our drinking water is safe and that future contamination to the surrounding environmental will not result from the clean-up of the facility, while another expressed concern specifically about well water quality writing, “make sure our well water is safe.”

The remaining community need themes were focused on seeking justice (accountability/repercussions), evaluation and environmental testing to understand the extent of the contamination and potential human health impacts, and actions including: addressing the strong smell originating from the byproducts and removing contaminants.