Asarco: Yes, smelter did have negative effects

Re: “Name someone harmed by smelter fallout” (letter, 11-21).

As the author of “Minerals, Trace Elements and Human Health,” I read with dismay the persistent urban legend that the Asarco smelter in Ruston had not been a health risk to the community. Quite the contrary.

In the early 1980s, a former Washington state epidemiologist and I studied dozens of children who lived on Vashon Island, in Ruston, in Tacoma and in surrounding communities who exhibited serious behavior problems, including a 9-year-old boy who lived in Ruston and was charged with attempted murder of a 10-year-old girl.

Blood, urine and hair tests revealed that many of these children had significantly elevated arsenic, lead and/or cadmium levels - all known to be toxic to the brain - as well as imbalances in the ratio of zinc to copper from excessive copper exposure that can lead to hyperactivity, anxiety and/or poor impulse control.

These findings led to further investigations that revealed infants, children and young adults exposed to the smelter were at increased risk of a range of short-term and long-term behavior problems and health consequences because they absorb far more of these neurotoxic metals than adults do.

The smelter’s owner could have added scrubbers to remove these metals but elected not to.

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Asarco: Yes, smelter did have negative effects."