Niagara’s mist found to be carcinogenic

Press, 13 May 1987, Page 38

Niagara’s mist found to be carcinogenic

NZPA-AP Toronto The romantic mist rising from Niagara Falls contains large amounts of cancer-causing chemicals, posing an unknown risk to 150,000 people living in the border area, a University of Toronto study warns. Millions of honeymooners and other tourists who make brief visits to the falls each year are unlikely to suffer damage, but those who live and work along the Niagara River are at risk, researchers said. Workers at fruit orchards, vegetable farms or wineries in the region, and the food they produce, may be especially vulnerable, according to the study by a chemical engineering professor, Donald Mackay, and a graduate student, Michael McLachlan, which was published by the "Toronto Globe and Mail.” researchers estim-

ated that about 60 tonnes a year of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), chloroform and chlorobenzenes evaporate into the air from the river, about half at the falls and the rest from wave action in the river. The United States and Canadian ' Governments reached an agreement last winter to co-operate in cleaning up toxic dumps along the heavily polluted Niagara. Industrial plants line the riverbank.

A 1984 report said dangerous chemicals may be seeping into the river from 61 of the 164 toxic dumps near the river, which separates Canada’s Ontario province from New York state. The toxic chemicals are known to cause cancer In animals and could pose a similar danger to humans, according to the - study, which was partly financed by thq Canadian Government " |