In Knox County, people living near the University of Tennessee, Whittle Springs and Lonsdale have a one in 46,000 chance of getting cancer from formaldehyde.
KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — It’s a chemical found almost everywhere and it causes more cancer than any other toxic air pollutant.
ProPublica analyzed formaldehyde concentrations modeled by the Environmental Protection Agency and released through the agency’s AirToxScreen database from 2020. The data the newsroom compiled shows, overall, Knox County’s cancer risk is slightly higher than the average range.
Formaldehyde can cause issues like asthma in both children and adults; other respiratory ailments, including reduced lung function; and reproductive harms, such as miscarriages and fertility problems.
In Knox County, people living in three zip codes, near the University of Tennessee, Whittle Springs and Lonsdale, have a one in 46,000 chance of getting cancer from formaldehyde. The EPA’s goal is to keep the risk of cancer from being over one …