Health worries high; Sinclair fire smoke still spreading over Cedar Rapids

Smoke from the former Farmstead Foods plant is spreading throughout the city.

Air pollution control officer Jim Hodina of Linn County Public Health said air monitors at the health department building, about two miles from the fire, are picking up higher than normal readings of fine particulate matter today.

The department, at 501 13th Street NW, uses a bank of stationary monitors at the building. A portable monitor is also being used elsewhere in Cedar Rapids, Hodina said.

Highest readings from areas closer to the plant, also known as the Sinclair site, 1600 Third St. SE, have come in at 500 micrograms per cubic meter, well above the Environmental Protection Agency's health standard of 35 micrograms of particulate matter over a 24 hour exposure.

The health department has real time readings of air quality on its Web site: www.linncleanair.org

As of midday, that level was 99, meaning the fine particulate matter was at 99 percent of the EPA's standard, and close to moving into the next level.

That reading is only at the health department's site. Levels elsewhere in the city, closer to the fire, are in the hazardous range.

At those levels, even healthy people could experience eye irritation, coughs and sore throats.

Greater risks are for people with allergies or asthma and other respiratory or cardiovascular conditions.

Anyone experiencing shortness of breath, chest pain or other serious symptoms should seek medical attention.

Hodina said in itself, fine particulate matter is not toxic as compared to breathing benzene or other hazardous chemicals, for example.

But particulate matter, basically fine particles created by the fire that are carried in the air, can trigger respiratory problems for people with underlying conditions.

Hodina said the department is not using equipment to monitor for asbestos, which would consist of collecting filtered samples and sending them to a lab to be analyzed.

He said the health department is relying on the Fire Department's statement that there is no asbestos in the building that is on fire.

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