Industrial Emissions Cast Pall Over the Region : Air pollution: The bad news is that the 10.23 million pounds of toxic chemicals released in the South Bay account for more than a third of the entire county’s output. The good news is that it’s a decrease from previous years.

As they enjoyed the area’s beaches, malls and other attractions, South Bay residents in 1990 also lived alongside some of California’s worst toxic air polluters.

South Bay plants legally discharged a staggering 10.23 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the air in 1990, according to industry-supplied statistics. That is more than a third of the amount reported in all of Los Angeles County. The South Bay’s emissions, in fact, surpass those of every other California county but Orange, where manufacturers reported releasing 10.28 million pounds.

To be sure, the area’s output was 1.8 million below its 1989 levels, thanks mainly to improved pollution control and a significant, albeit unwelcome, business slump.

And the emissions totals, no matter how high, only describe the quantity of toxics reportedly sent skyward, not how the pollutants are affecting the so-called “ambient” air breathed by residents.

But environmentalists and industry officials agree that the numbers underscore the need for careful study of the health risks posed by plant emissions, particularly in heavily industrialized areas such as the South Bay.

“People in the South Bay are living in a massive epidemiological experiment,” said Tim Little, executive director of the Venice-based environmental group Coalition for Clean Air. “The South Bay and other industrial parts of Los Angeles are where we have to get the evidence about what toxic air does.”

Said Tom Markin, environmental manager at Arco’s Carson oil refinery: “The numbers are certainly big and they’re naturally going to warrant concern. . . . Not enough scientific minds have gotten together to work on these things.”

At issue are toxic air figures filed by companies as part of the “community right to know” law passed by Congress in 1986.

The measure requires manufacturers to report on their emissions of more than 300 chemicals ranging from benzene, considered a human carcinogen, to Freon 113, which is of low toxicity but damages the Earth’s protective ozone layer.

More than 200 plants filed reports in the South Bay, including oil refineries, aerospace manufacturers, furniture factories and more. The area’s biggest single source was the Reynolds Metals Co. aluminum can factory in Torrance, which reported releasing more than a million pounds in 1990.

Reynolds, in fact, ranked fifth in toxic air emissions in Southern California. And more than half a dozen other South Bay plants ranked among the 25 biggest toxic air emitters in the seven-county region.

Four were refineries: Chevron in El Segundo, Mobil in Torrance, and Shell and Arco in Carson. Two were aircraft manufacturing plants, Northrop in Hawthorne and Douglas in Torrance. The seventh was a BP Chemicals Inc. fiberglass panel complex in Hawthorne, part of which has since been closed.

Several South Bay plants emitted chemicals considered among the most worrisome from a health standpoint. The Monsanto plant in Carson, which made detergent ingredients until it closed in September, reported releasing more than 100,000 pounds of benzene in 1990.

That easily ranked as the highest industrial benzene release in the state. The next-highest was the 21,900 pounds reported by a Chevron oil refinery in the Bay Area city of Richmond.

But health officials caution that even in the case of Monsanto, it is far from certain whether abundant emissions mean residents in the area face a higher-than-normal health risk.

“What really is important is what benzene concentrations were in the ambient air,” said Dr. Paul Papanek, a toxics expert with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. “That depends on things like how close you are to the plant and air quality in the area in general.”

In some cases, Papanek said, nearby residents aren’t the only ones to consider. “We certainly have seen cases where there’s a tall stack and a plume that will touch down a long ways from the plant,” he said.

The decline in the South Bay’s toxic air emissions last year stemmed in part from hard economic times, notably in the struggling aerospace industry.

TRW says heightened awareness of toxic chemicals and stepped-up efforts to control their use helped cut emissions at two of its South Bay plants from 395,294 pounds in 1989 to 191,543 pounds in 1990.

But the company acknowledges that downsizing was also a factor. “We’ve clearly had a reduction in the work force and the amount of work being done,” spokesman Dan McClain said.

At Buss Systems, an El Segundo company that manufactures printed circuit boards for defense contractors, toxic air emissions dwindled to near zero last year from 35,500 in 1989 largely because of a sharp drop in business.

“For a while, we thought we were going to go belly up,” maintenance supervisor John Buffone said. “We’re down to 100 employees from 350 in 1987.”

In numerous other cases, government environmental regulation has prompted toxic emission declines.

Dow Chemical’s move to meet government curbs on ozone-depleting chemicals, for example, helped lower toxic air emissions at its Torrance plant by more than half--from 481,393 pounds in 1989 to 223,100 pounds last year.

Shannon Bass, the plastics plant’s environmental supervisor, said Dow’s switch to a chemical recipe free of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, also cut the plant’s use of other substances considered toxic.

At the Ohline Corp. in Gardena, pressure from air quality regulators to cut smog-forming emissions prompted the plant to stop using solvent-based paint to coat the wooden shutters it manufactures.

Instead, Ohline now uses less harmful water-based paint, said Marlo Ramos, the company’s safety and environmental compliance director. As a result, Ohline’s toxic air emissions plunged from 235,500 pounds in 1989 to 89,000 pounds last year, Ramos said.

The company had avoided water-based paint in the past, he added, because it costs more than solvent-based paint and is far more difficult to touch up after it is applied. “With water-based paint, once it’s on it’s goodby,” Ramos said.

South Bay plants with increased or consistently high toxic air output, point to factors ranging from malfunctioning equipment to stepped-up pollution control.

Chevron attributes a huge surge in toxic air output at its El Segundo oil refinery to the installation of ammonia-based systems designed to clean flue gases. The systems were installed to meet regional air quality curbs on nitrous oxides, compounds that do not have to be reported for the “right to know” program but are a main ingredient in smog.

But as a result, the refinery’s ammonia levels rocketed, pushing the plant’s total toxic air output from less than 550,000 pounds in 1989 to more than 900,000 pounds last year.

Mark Saperstein, a planning official with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, acknowledged such increases are caused by AQMD regulations. The advantages of trimming output of nitrous oxides, however, were judged to outweigh the drawbacks of higher ammonia output, he said.

“Clearly,” Saperstein said, “you are putting out more of one pollutant as a side effect of cleaning up another one.”

The Northrop aerospace company said malfunctioning equipment at its hydraulic tubing plant in Hawthorne caused the factory’s emissions of 1,1,1 trichloroethane to soar to 153,700 last year--more than six times their level in 1989.

But Northrop says it corrected the problem and plans a $60-million overhaul of its main aircraft fuselage plant in Hawthorne, a move company officials say will dramatically reduce the toxic air emissions.

Reynolds Metals, says the consistently high toxic air totals reported by its Torrance factory are due mainly to its use of glycol ethers and n-Butyl alcohol to coat and decorate cans.

Company spokesman William Conley said there are no practical substitutes for the compounds but added that the emissions should not be cause for major concern.

“We don’t believe the releases from our facility really have that much of an adverse impact on human health,” Conley said. “I know someone within range of the plant might have concern, but we operate within the law.”

A clearer picture of the health risks posed by South Bay plants is expected to emerge as regional air quality officials implement the state’s toxic “hot spots” act.

The law, which is separate from the right-to-know legislation, requires companies to submit risk assessments detailing how their emissions are affecting the ambient air in surrounding neighborhoods.

Companies found to pose a significant health risk will be required to notify nearby homes and businesses, but AQMD has yet to set the standards that will be used to make such determinations.

In the meantime, Papanek of the county health department said, South Bay residents shouldn’t remain passive given the area’s abundance of toxic air emissions.

“There’s no doubt that those are big numbers,” Papanek said. “If I were living near a plant down there I would egg on the air district to get the controls as tight as they can on these facilities.”

Times researchers Dan Malcor, Janet Lundblad and Tracy Thomas contributed to this story.

THE POLLUTION PICTURE: A chart and map list South Bay companies that emit the largest volumes of pollutants, and a glossary describes the toxic chemicals’ effects. B12

Toxic Chemicals and Their Effects

Compounds emitted to the air in the largest volumes by Southern California manufacturers. Chemical: 1,1,1-Trichloroethane Human and Environmental Effect: TCA for short. A clear liquid used to degrease metal and to clean printing presses and electronic parts, among other things. Fairly low in toxicity; a high dose is needed to cause immediate effects. Concentrated exposure can irritate the eyes and lungs and affect the heartbeat and central nervous system. Workers have died from high exposure in enclosed spaces. No link with cancer has been proved in limited animal tests. TCA depletes the ozone shield that screens the sun’s harmful rays. Chemical: Methylene Chloride Human and Environmental Effect: A clear liquid used as paint stripper, metal degreaser and in adhesives, foam and plastics processing. Common ingredient in paint strippers sold to consumers. Irritates skin and in high concentrations affects heart and central nervous system. Considered a probable human carcinogen based on animal tests. Chemical: Freon 113 Human and Environmental Effect: An odorless, colorless gas used as a blowing agent in foam manufacture, as a refrigerant and as a cleaning solvent. Widely used because of its low toxicity, although high levels can cause eye, nose and throat irritation and asphyxia. Strong ozone depleter. Chemical: Perchloroethylene Human and Environmental Effect: Also known as PCE or tetrachloroethylene. Used in metal drying and degreasing. Also the most widely used dry-cleaning chemical. Detected in many local drinking water supplies due to ground water seepage. Moderately toxic. Workplace exposure has resulted in liver, kidney and central nervous system effects. Considered a probable human carcinogen based on animal tests. Chemical: Acetone Human and Environmental Effect: Flammable liquid used as fingernail polish remover; also to make chemicals, remove paint, and clean and dry precision equipment. Toxicity is low, but at high levels it can irritate the nose and throat and cause lightheadedness. Reacts in sunlight to create smog. Chemical: Ammonia Human and Environmental Effect: A colorless liquid or gas with irritating odor used as a household cleaner, as a refrigerant, in metal treating and synthetic fibers. Concentrated fumes can cause severe irritation to eyes and lungs. Chemical: Styrene Human and Environmental Effect: A flammable, usually colorless, oily liquid with pungent odor used in the manufacture of plastics and resins. One of the most heavily used chemicals in the United States. Can irritate eyes, nose and throat. Vapors contribute to smog. Suspected carcinogen. Chemical: Methyl Ethyl Ketone Human and Environmental Effect: MEK for short. A solvent used to make paints, paint removers, adhesives, drugs, cosmetics and artificial leather. Explosion hazard. Concentrated exposure can cause dizziness, headaches and blurred vision. Chronic, low-level exposure can cause decreased memory and slow reflexes. May cause reproductive harm, based on animal studies. Chemical: Toluene Human and Environmental Effect: A flammable liquid used as a gasoline additive and in making inks, detergents and pharmaceuticals. Skin and eye irritant. Chronic exposure may cause anemia, damage to liver, kidneys and central nervous system. Contributes to ozone, the main ingredient in smog. May be toxic to fetus. Chemical: Xylene Human and Environmental Effect: A flammable liquid used in fuels, lacquers and such household products as glues, fingernail polish and rubber cement. Can irritate eyes, nose and throat. Chronic exposure can damage the liver and central nervous system. Fatalities have resulted from breathing intense concentrations. Xylene vapors contribute to smog. Chemical: Glycol Ethers Human and Environmental Effect: Used in resins, paints, dyes, cosmetics and brake fluids. Concentrated exposure can cause nausea, headaches and kidney damage. May be toxic to fetus. Chemical: n-Butyl Alcohol Human and Environmental Effect: A flammable liquid used as a solvent in the manufacture of resins, varnishes, detergents and lacquers. Can cause skin, eye and throat irritation.