U.S. EPA Wylam Neighborhood Air Monitoring Study
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Jefferson County Department of Health (JCDH) have completed a special air monitoring study in the Wylam neighborhood of Birmingham that focused on metals, including chromium. The air monitoring results from the study were used to calculate potential risks to local residents and identified that the level of hexavalent chromium, a specific form of chromium that can cause cancer, is at the top of, but within the range of risks (one in a million to one hundred in one million) that EPA uses to protect people from toxic air pollutants.
EPA fact sheet provides details of the study and next steps: EPA Wylam Neighborhood Air Monitoring Study Fact Sheet (pdf)
EPA presentation about the Wylam Community Hexavalent Chromium Study Results: Watch the YouTube video
Fact Sheet: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ToxFAQs on Chromium (pdf)
View the study report: EPA Wylam, Alabama Hexavalent Chromium Risk Analysis (pdf)
If you have questions about this air monitoring study, please send an email to R4PublicAffairs@epa.gov.