PCE is an abbreviation for Tetrachloroethylene. It is a chemical commonly used to dry clean fabrics, degrease metal parts, and in wood processing. PCE is in household products such as paint strippers, water repellents, and spot removers.

Long term exposure to PCE is believed to impair cognitive, motor, and neurobehavioral performance. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified PCE as likely to be carcinogenic to humans. More study is needed to learn how long term, low-level exposure to PCE affects humans.

In 2005, the City of Martinsville built a new water treatment plant with four activated carbon filtration systems to treat the groundwater before serving it to the community. The water is regularly tested and it meets all federal and state water safety requirements.

Chemicals like PCE (a toxic chemical) belong to a family called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can vaporize (evaporate). When in soil or water, PCE evaporates and the vapor can travel through soil and enter buildings and indoor air through cracks in foundations and drainage systems. This process is similar to radon in homes.

Below is a map which roughly outlines the locations of the four plumes. The boundaries of the plumes are not well-defined and there is evidence the plumes are moving. Determining whether a certain house is in a plume is inexact.

If you are interested in having your property tested and are located near the Superfund site plume (see map below), please contact Erik Hardin at hardin.erik@epa.gov.

Yes.  Reducing the PCE or other volatile chemicals in the indoor air of a home is called mitigating (see Glossary). Mitigating a home can involve sealing openings in the floor slab, installing a plastic barrier below the building, and installing a ventilation system which diverts PCE into the outdoor air.

At this time, the EPA is installing mitigation systems in homes located on the Superfund site that have been tested for vapor intrusion. We hope to learn more about vapor intrusion as a part of this research study. Our results may lead to a public health action plan that addresses the expense of installing mitigation systems for homes not located on the Superfund site.

We believe installing a mitigation system will improve home value but are investigating this as a part of this research study.

Yes, at this time, you need your landlord’s permission to have your home tested by the EPA. If you participate in our research study, you do not need your landlord’s permission to have your home tested.

There are many ways you can get involved! If you are part of a group who would like to learn more about this study, please contact us to schedule a presentation. Consider joining our community advisory board (CAB) which meets four times a year to hear study updates and discuss future plans. Additionally, our community engagement team meets at 8pm on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays each month over Zoom and you are welcome to attend. Contact Stephanie Littell via email or Facebook Messenger to learn more about these opportunities.

MeCAP will be at many local events to help educate the community on possible contamination issues and/or to help get volunteers for upcoming research projects.

We sent individual results of the cognitive tests to study participants in March of 2023. We are finishing data analysis of the exhaled breath tests and plan to host a community event to report our overall results.

CAB stands for Community Advisory Board. The advisory board is a group of volunteers from Martinsville who meet four times a year to receive study updates and provide feedback on our future plans.

The Research to Action program is part of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) *Partnerships for Environmental Public Health" (PEPH) network. Community members understand their community best and can help forge trust between the community and researchers which eases the research tasks and promotes greater long term outcomes for the community. Projects supported under this program allow community members to work alongside researchers to better understand potential health risks related to environmental exposures and turn the findings into a public health action to better their communities.

Community Based Participatory Research is an approach to research where the researchers and community members all have an equal opportunity to offer their expertise in the project and make decisions together.