Superfund Research Program
October 2024
By Isaac Conrad
Concerns about volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) potentially leaking into a library in Louisville prompted action by NIEHS-funded Superfund Research Program (SRP) centers. Collaborators at the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville (UofL) came together with local researchers and community members to address the problem.
The team quickly organized a site visit, measured chemical concentrations, prepared a report, and shared their findings with library staff and community members, ensuring everyone had clear information on the potential health risks of VOC exposures and practical safety measures.
“Although no grant mechanism connected us, our collaborative spirit, scientific expertise, and ability to interweave information to make sense of uncertainty motivated us to step forward when the community asked for help,” said Kelly Pennell, Ph.D., the director of the University of Kentucky SRP Center. “We kept our focus fixed on the community’s needs, and that makes a big difference in the way research can benefit society.”
Teaming Up to Address Community Concerns
On April 5, 2024, library staff and patrons reported strong chemical smells and unpleasant symptoms, like nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. Staff suspected the odors originated from a nearby sewer line repair project in which workers were filling damaged pipes with a resin that hardens into a new pipe.
Two days later, an independent analysis found relatively low levels of the VOC styrene, a common byproduct of such resins. But continued reports of chemical odors at the library weeks later led community members to seek answers.
They first reached out to Andrew Whelton, Ph.D., an expert in this particular pipe repair technology and its potential exposure and health risks. Whelton quickly connected with collaborator Pennell, an expert in how VOCs travel and enter buildings. The group then enlisted Community Engagement Core leaders Lauren Heberle, Ph.D., of the UofL SRP Center, and Luz Huntington-Moskos, Ph.D., RN, of the NIEHS-funded UofL Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences.
Team members visited the library on April 28 to gather more information. They reviewed the initial analysis and discovered it may not have adequately captured potential exposures.
“At the time of the first inspection, there were significant wind gusts that likely impacted the handheld detector readings and chemical odors,” Whelton said.
Using a similar handheld detector to the initial analysis, the team traced odors to sewer drains outside the library and found high concentrations of VOCs.
“Our findings suggest VOCs remained in the sewer air even three weeks after the repair,” Whelton noted. “But these devices only measure concentrations and cannot identify which chemicals are in the air, so one of our recommendations was to determine which chemicals are present so we can better understand potential health risks.”
In addition to chemical-specific testing, the team recommended the library conduct a smoke test in the sewer to see where VOCs enter the building. A smoke test entails filling the sewer with smoke then visually identifying where smoke leaves the sewer.
“Property and plumbing drawings indicated that the library sewers were connected to the pipes repaired in early April, so we suspected the VOCs may have moved from the sewer into the library through floor drains, plumbing fixtures, and foundation cracks,” Pennell said. “But without a smoke test we could not pinpoint the direct route through which the emissions entered the library.”
Communicating Risks
The team compiled its findings into a report, adding several recommendations to prevent similar exposures in the future, and shared the report with library staff and the representatives of the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) who contracted the repairs. The scientists also encouraged city and state health officials to identify other buildings that may have been contaminated and suggested they develop strategies to prevent pipe repair emissions from contaminating properties.
Heberle and Huntington-Moskos, familiar faces to the Louisville community, spoke directly with exposed individuals. Heberle also recommended that the MSD share other planned pipe repair projects using the same technology and proactively contact communities to provide health-protective measures.