Coal Tar Dangerous for Mo State U
From Dan Chiles, former City Councilman in Springfield, MO and appeared today in the Springfield News-Leader:
Officials at Missouri State University (MSU) have announced they will pour truckloads of toxic coal-tar sealcoat on their parking lots, in the heart of their campus and our community.
The U.S. Geological Survey warns: “Coal-tar-based sealcoat products typically are 20 to 35% coal tar or coal-tar pitch — these materials are known human carcinogens that contain high concentrations of PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and related chemicals.”
“PAH, cancer”. Google this and weep.
In the ranking of 275 hazardous substances on the federal government’s priority list for “the most significant potential threat to human health due to their known or suspected toxicity and potential for human exposure” at Superfund toxic waste sites, the PAH compounds on MSU parking lots are Number 8, Number 9 and Number 10.
Listen to the warnings of the people who sell Number 8, benzo[a]pyrene. Bold-lettered language on the Federal MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET warns workers:
“EMERGENCY OVERVIEW. Danger! May cause allergic skin reaction. Cancer hazard. May cause harm to the unborn child. May impair fertility. May cause eye, skin, and respiratory tract irritation. Toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long term adverse effects in the aquatic environment. May cause heritable genetic damage.”
“Laboratory experiments have resulted in mutagenic effects”.
The PAH toxins on MSU parking lots cause birth defects in the laboratory. Do students of child-bearing age know this? Time to replace old Boomer
 |
| Boomer the MSU Mascot |
with the MSU Guinea Pig. Sorry folks, the Pig missed the game again. She’s getting her regular radiation treatment with chemo to follow.
That’s a joke from a cancer survivor. Want another? Read the MSU Environmental Mission at http://www. missouristate.edu/environmental/ and then file it under Hypocrisy.
Then read the 2012 taxpayer-funded study by researchers at the MSU Ozarks Environmental and Water Resources Institute. They studied 49 local springs, lakes and waterways. All of them were contaminated with deadly fish killing PAH’s from parking lots. Half these waterways are labeled “toxic.” Look it up at http://oewri. missouristate.edu/assets/ OEWRI/PAH.pdf. File this under Madness.
Workers who spread toxic coal tar on parking lots are required to wear respirators, chemical safety goggles, heavy boots and protective gloves. Do students wear moonsuits in classes? Have you seen Clif Smart in his moonsuit? The MSU Board of Governors?
As the U.S. Geological Survey has documented, deadly PAH carcinogens don’t stay on parking lots… they spread on the soles of shoes, on the surfaces of toys, on the outsides of basketballs, the feet of pets, and on breezes… into nearby houses and businesses. Into streams and rivers. Into springs and lakes. PAH’s kill aquatic food supply and cause horrible cancerous growths on fish. MSU students will carry deadly PAH carcinogens into classrooms. Into clinics. Into laboratories. Into daycare. Into cafeterias. Into gyms and bathrooms. Into arenas. Into Clif Smart’s office.
MSU’s frightful decision tars a lot of people with the same brush. How did this get past MSU administrators? How did this get past the Board of Governors? The Faculty Senate? The student environmental clubs? The Springfield News-Leader has published major stories on this topic for over 5 years. Does anybody at MSU read the local paper?
This is not an academic subject for me. Two of my beloved children attend MSU. Someday, when the whole sad story of our self-inflicted toxic coal tar environmental disaster is finally told, I would like for them to be alive to read it.