Google workers at Superfund site exposed

Reported worldwide background levels vary from <17 to 109 ng/m3. In rural areas levels of 0.10–0.68 µg/m3 have been reported (4,5). In urban areas levels are higher. In European cities, the reported range is 0.04–64.1 µg/m3 (mean concentrations 0.8–18.5 µg/m3). For Germany, 5–15 µg/m3 is reported as the typical concentration range for urban areas (4). In the United States, concentrations in municipal areas ranged from 0.03 to 13.5 µg/m3 (mean concentrations 0.5–2.1 µg/m3) (4); the average for urban areas of 2.5 µg/m3 (0.46 ppb) that resulted from a compilation of data in 1982, is in agreement with more recent measurements (3). Mean concentrations (24-hour composite samples averaged over 1–12 months) in 11 Canadian cities ranged from 0.7 to 0.96 µg/m3 (5).

The median value for indoor air from the 2031 entries in the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data base on volatile organic contaminants (VOC-AMBI) is 0.68 µg/m3 (0.125 ppb); the average value was 7.36 µg/m3 (1.347 ppb) (6). In Canada, mean indoor air concentrations of up to 165 µg/m3 with an overall mean value of 1.4 µg/m3 have been reported (5). Concentrations measured in several western European countries varied from 0.76 to 1200 µg/m3 . Concentrations are generally higher in indoor air than outdoors (4). An important source for trichloroethylene in indoor air is volatilization from contaminated water (7).

http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/123069/A... (from 2000)

This article:

The problem at Google was discovered when routine air sampling found TCE at a level of 7.8 micrograms per cubic meter in a hallway of one building on Nov. 21. The EPA was notified as required. It is unclear how long the levels had been above the danger threshold. The previous sampling in September 2010 found nearly undetectable levels.

In an effort to reduce the vapors, workers sealed cracks in floors and walls where TCE might get in. But despite their efforts, samples collected on Dec. 29 found the problem was getting worse: TCE exceeded the 5-microgram safety threshold in five locations in two of the four buildings.

It was a bit nerve wracking seeing all of the various environmental teams walking around Ellis for a couple weeks wearing full on HazMat suits while we were just strolling around in Shorts and T-Shirts...

It's scattered through a great deal of SV, many of the Santa Clara county superfund sites are from former fabs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Superfund_sites_in_Cali...

Naturally, no jail time was ever served because of these.

Let me give this a try: "Workers at the site were exposed to tap water, a chemical known to cause birth defects[1] and death[2]"

Not that i'm claiming TCE is great for you, but articles like this are almost completely content free in terms of actual science.

[1] http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/2012/0...

[2] http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&...

"We're really not allowed to talk about it," she said. "Sorry."

This is a very shameful part of such incidents. Without transparency and communication, we will never resolve these issues.

If transparency and communication had existed from the start, that ventilation would not have been disabled or certainly not have remained so for such a period of time.

In my opinion, the entities that create such messes should be examined fully and, where appropriate (particularly in cases of willful neglect), drained of their resources in order to correct the problem.

And, once such problems exist in the public environment (including employment settings), nobody -- upon threat of criminal prosecution -- should have the ability to constraint communication and dialog about them.

Part of the legacy of the 'silicon' part of silicon valley.

Anybody else a little depressed that Google employees took precedent in this story, over an _ultrasound center_ housed on a site with chemicals that might cause birth defects?

This is going to scare many pregnant women and their partners, but it's almost worthless information. What is the baseline rate of babies born with holes in the heart, and what is the rate of babies exposed to TCE? And what's the consequence of hole in the heart - is it a problem for every child born with it? Without that information you've just got a scary soundbite but nothing else.