MISSION, Texas - In light of a new study by Texas A&M University that identified a link between arsenic and indicators of kidney disease, Mission environmental activist Ester Salinas is inviting a water resource specialist to come back to do more tests in her city.
Caleb Alvarez works for Laredo-based commercial appliance company Maytag. While going door-to-door in Mission, Alvarez visited Salinas’ home on Miller Avenue and tested the running water coming out of the faucet in her kitchen. The arsenic level in the water was 661 parts per billion.
“We’re above the contamination level (for arsenic),” Alvarez said, pointing out that the government does not recommend showering, bathing or other household uses if the arsenic level is over 500 ppb.
Salinas lives near the site which used to house the infamous Hayes-Sammons pesticide mixing plant. In the 1980s it was recognized as one of the most toxic Superfund sites in the country.
“When Mr. Alvarez measured the arsenic levels at my house and found the water to be contaminated I was worried. But now, with the findings contained in the Texas A&M University School of Public Health study, I am even more worried,” Salinas said.
Epidemiologists at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health have identified a link between arsenic and indicators of kidney disease. Their study, which used U.S. population-level data, identified an association between higher urinary arsenic levels and elevated odds of albuminuria (the presence of a protein normally found in the blood) and hyperuricemia (elevated levels of serum uric acid in the blood).
“Previous studies have observed a positive association between arsenic exposure and kidney damage or reduced kidney function. Our study further supports this link by examining urinary arsenic levels and chronic kidney disease using large U.S. population data,” said Taehyun Roh, Ph.D., who supervised the study.
Roh added that this is important given that about 37 million people inn the United States — about one out of seven — has chronic kidney disease, and the number is growing here and around the world.
Salinas said she was not surprised by the results of the Texas A&M study, given the history of illnesses in and around the Mission Superfund site.
“I am worried for my neighbors. If Mr. Alvarez finds the running water in their homes also has a high concentration of arsenic, my thoughts would turn to the underground water pipelines. Did the highly toxic chemicals that seeped into the ground around the Hayes-Sammons plant infect the pipes that bring water into our homes?”
Thousands of Mission residents living near the Hayes-Sammons plant suffered severe illnesses. Some died early.
In the late 1990s, Salinas gathered thousands of signatures for a class-action lawsuit brought by Edinburg attorney Ramon Garcia against the chemical companies that provided raw materials to the Hayes-Sammons plant. The lawsuit was settled in court.
“If Mr. Alvarez comes back with five or six cases of high arsenic levels in and around the Superfund site, I will be asking my congresswoman, Monica De La Cruz to get the federal government to do further investigations. We might need to check the homes in a two-mile radius of the Superfund site.”
Salinas has asked state Sen. Juan Hinojosa, a native of Mission, if he would pass a resolution this legislative session in support of a state plaque commemorating all those who died or suffered illness because they lived close to or worked at the Hayes-Sammons plant.
Here is an interview with Salinas from the site where the Hayes-Sammons plant stood:
