Arsenic Mine Site, Town of Kent, Putnam County, NY
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), through ATSDR’s Cooperative Agreement Program, evaluated soil samples collected in 2017 and 2018 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). ATSDR and NYSDOH produced a health consultation report to determine if potential exposures to arsenic in shallow residential soil could harm people’s health.
ATSDR and NYSDOH collaborated to identify actual and possible human exposure to contamination, and to determine the potential health effects the exposures could cause. It was determined that current and potential future exposures to arsenic in shallow residential soil on the Arsenic Mine Site is an urgent public health hazard, a category used in ATSDR reports for sites where short-term exposures (less than 1 year) to hazardous substances or conditions could result in harmful health effects that require rapid intervention.
In October 2018, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) requested ATSDR to evaluate soil samples collected at residential properties at the Arsenic Mine Site to determine if prompt action was necessary to reduce harmful exposure to arsenic in soil.
The conclusions of the health consultation prompted ATSDR to issue a public health advisory for this site. The major conclusions of the health consultation were:
- Children who reside or access residential properties with the highest arsenic levels in shallow soils can have short-term ingestion and long-term ingestion and dermal exposures to arsenic that can harm their health.
- Adults can also have long-term ingestion and dermal exposures that can harm their health.
- Ingestion and dermal exposures to arsenic contaminated soils at this site significantly increases the risk for cancer and non-cancer effects in both adults and children.