CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Health officials in Lake County have begun air testing that will reveal new information about cancer-causing chemicals in Gurnee and Waukegan.
A second round of outdoor air monitoring began last week near Vantage Specialty Chemicals and Medline Industries, where past tests have confirmed the presence of ethylene oxide.
"Over 90 days, we're going to be collecting 360 samples," said Hannah Goering with the Lake County Health Department. "That will be in addition to the samples we collected earlier in the summer."
Georing said monitoring canisters have been set up at 12 different sites.
"They're stainless steel canisters on tri-pods. You can see some of them from different roads. They are placed there for a 24-hour period so they can collect the sample," she said.
The monitoring canisters pose no health risks to residents and should not be damaged, moved, or interfered with.
The additional data on EtO levels will be sent to Gurnee and Waukegan officials, as well as the EPA by early next year.
“Our first 30-day period of outdoor air monitoring confirmed the presence of EtO in our air, with the highest levels found at the sampling sites closest to the Medline and Vantage facilities,” said Mark Pfister, Health Department Executive Director, in a statement. “The second round of air monitoring, funded by the IEPA, will provide additional data on the levels of EtO before, during, and after new controls are installed at Medline as required to meet their permit from IEPA.”