Community Health
Community Health
Community health is our first priority.
Residents living near the Chiquita Canyon Landfill have been reporting health complaints such as headaches, respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms from exposure to chemical emissions from the landfill. Health impacts from odors and air pollution can vary, depending on a person’s sensitivity and extent of exposure. Sensitive individuals include children, seniors, or those with chronic health conditions.
Local, state, and federal environmental and public health experts have been reviewing existing air monitoring data in the Chiquita Canyon community using scientific principles and health guidance values designed to protect the public from health impacts. Experts have determined that the results of air monitoring do not indicate an immediate endangerment to health. However, many chemicals can cause odors before they reach health guidance values. Persistent odors may cause physical symptoms.
Environmental Odors and Your Health
Some chemicals can cause odors before they reach health guidance values. Highly odorous sulfur compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide, can be detected by our own nose even before they are detectable by sophisticated air monitoring equipment. These offensive odors can smell like rotten eggs or cabbage.
Environmental odors, including sulfur compounds, can sometimes cause physical health symptoms that are generally expected to go away when the odor is gone. However, persistent exposures to environmental odors could lead to continuing symptoms, even when the odor causing chemicals are present below state and federal health guidance values.
Symptoms from environmental odors can include:
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Nausea and other gastrointestinal symptoms
- Eye, nose, and throat irritation
- Cough or wheeze (especially if you have allergies, asthma, or other lung problems)
- Sleep problems
In addition, people may experience mental stress from persistent exposure to environmental odors, including anxiety, helplessness, sadness, or depression. These symptoms may be triggered when odors are below irritation levels, especially if:
- The odor has an unpleasant smell
- You've had a previous bad experience with the odor
- You believe the odor is harmful
- You feel stressed by the odor
Other factors, such as seasonal allergies or a difficult life event, may also contribute to these physical and mental impacts. Also, exposure to odors and air pollutants may worsen or intensify symptoms. As always, you should visit your healthcare provider if you have questions about your health.
For more information, visit the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s Are Environmental Odors Toxic?
Health Guidance Values
Results from air monitoring are compared to health guidance values. The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) has developed two types of health guidance values: Acute (short-term) and Chronic (long-term) Reference Exposure Levels (RELs). When a monitored chemical does not have an acute or chronic REL value, the strictest available health guidance value is used. Chemical levels that do not exceed acute RELs are generally not expected to cause health impacts. Some chemicals can cause odors and mild symptoms such as headaches, nausea, and irritation before they reach acute RELs.
Chronic RELs are set lower than acute RELs, because they are used to evaluate continuous exposures over several years, up to a lifetime. The general public is not expected to experience health problems when long-term air monitoring results fall below chronic RELs. OEHHA RELs are always designed with health-protective adjustments and built-in “safety cushions” to account for unknown information about a chemical and variations in people’s sensitivity to exposures. This means chemicals that exceed either acute or chronic RELs are not necessarily expected to cause health impacts. These safety cushions give experts time to act before health impacts occur.
Air Monitoring Data and Your Health
Experts began by examining data obtained from all air monitoring sites for seven straight months (September 2023-April 2024) and found occasional exceedances of short-term health guidance values in the community for only three out of 70 chemicals: benzene, hydrogen sulfide, and dimethyl disulfide. There was no pattern observed in terms of dates or locations for these short-term exceedances. Levels of these chemicals were high enough on a small number of days and may have contributed to temporary symptoms such as headache, cough, nose, and eye irritation. Experts examined recorded exceedances for benzene in greater depth. They found only two exceedances for benzene, and there was no simultaneous exceedance of benzene detected at the on-site landfill air monitor. This suggests that these exceedances of benzene may be unrelated to landfill emissions.
Since April 2024, the air monitoring program expanded to include specialized air monitors for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Average daily levels of the VOCs, including benzene, have been similar to background levels in the Los Angeles County area. These monitors will continue to gather a robust set of air monitoring results to help experts evaluate both short-term (acute) and long-term (chronic) health risks. Community health risks will continue to be evaluated as emissions from the landfill's reaction area are ongoing.
Reducing Your Exposure
Steps to maintain healthy indoor air:
- Portable air cleaners with an activated carbon filter can help to remove gases and odors, while a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter remove particles such as dust and pollen. Some portable air cleaners can filter both particles and gases.
- Air filters with large amounts of activated carbon help remove benzene and other volatile organic compounds as well as odors.
- Additional odor-reducing filters, such as those with potassium permanganate, are recommended to further remove odorous gases.
- Additional odor-reducing filters, such as those with potassium permanganate, are recommended to further remove odorous gases.
- All filters need regular replacement. Check filters and air cleaners at least once a month for odors, dust accumulation, and damage.
- Air cleaning devices should be certified by the California Air Resources Board for electrical safety and to minimize ozone generation indoors.
- Air cleaning devices should be properly sized for the space where they are used, based on the clean air delivery rate (CADR) or other metric that describes the area or volume the device is rated for.
Air Monitoring
Air quality monitoring is happening to gain insight into potential community impacts over the short- and long-term and inform advisories and actions to protect public health. Since 2022, SCS Engineers (one of the landfill's contractors) has been operating a network of 12 air-monitoring stations (MS), five around the Chiquita Canyon Landfill perimeter (MS-01 through MS-05) and seven throughout the community surrounding the landfill (MS-06 through MS-12) (see figure above for details).
This network has been designed to cover the area most impacted by landfill emissions. At each station, air pollution measurements are gathered using equipment to monitor hydrogen sulfide, methane and wind information hourly (every hour) and in near real time (data is posted on a dedicated website shortly after collection).
In May 2024, specialized monitors were also installed at the MS-10 (Hasley Canyon Park) and MS-12 (Val Verde Community) stations to measure hourly concentrations of benzene and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). More of these VOC monitors are expected to be deployed at other community sites later this year.
For more information and up-to-date hydrogen sulfide and methane data at all community sites, please visit Community Air Monitoring Program.
For more information and up-to-date VOC data (including benzene) at the MS-10 and MS-12 sites, please visit Chiquita Canyon Landfill Community Air Monitoring Program.
It is important to note that people react to chemicals differently, and even without exceedances, physical symptoms can be triggered.
Water Monitoring
Public water systems are required to monitor raw and finished water as required by their permit and by California’s Safe Drinking Water Act. At this time, there is no indication that drinking water supplies have been affected by the ongoing situation at the Chiquita Canyon Landfill.
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board required the landfill to install additional monitoring wells and has increased the frequency of testing around the landfill. If testing shows that contamination is migrating offsite, the regional board will coordinate with the appropriate state and local agencies to increase monitoring frequencies for any vulnerable drinking water sources.
If you own a private domestic well not regulated by the State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Drinking Water, you can refer to “A Guide for Private Domestic Well Owners” (ca.gov). If you wish to test your well, the following link provides access to a geographic information system (GIS) application that enables users to locate the State Water Resources Control Board’s Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ELAP) accredited laboratories: California ELAP Certified Laboratories (arcgis.com).
Learn more:
- Water quality results from groundwater monitoring wells is available at Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Groundwater (ca.gov).
- The System Area Boundary Layer (SABL) Look-up Tool (ca.gov) enables people to locate their location on a map and identify the service area boundary that provides their water.
