By John Mason
Hudson Valley Newspapers
Saturday, June 14, 2003, Hudson, NY
Feeling depressed? It's not the coffee, it's the cup. That's the word from former trucker Charlie Lake of Cairo. "Former" because he had to give up driving after he contracted styrene poisoning from the Styrofoam trays he was constantly loading and unloading.
With 15 years as a truck driver under his belt, Lake changed truck companies in 1990. Within six months, he had developed severe gastrointestinal problems. He left truck-driving forever in 1992 due to the styrene poisoning that caused those problems.
As an owner-operator, he was denied workmen's compensation, even though he had been paying 3.5 percent of his pay into that fund. And his lawyer, Lake said, managed to bungle any case he had against the company.
Styrene is a toxic substance that leeches into the air from Styrofoam. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, styrene exposure above recommended levels causes short-term effects such as depression, loss of concentration, weakness, fatigue and nausea, and its long-term effects, from a lifetime exposure above recommended levels, include liver and nerve tissue damage and cancer.
Another problem with styrene, Lake said, is that it can't be tested for after 12 hours, because it leaves the blood stream and goes into the fatty tissues, from which it attacks the central nervous system.
Styrofoam also emits benzene, a known carcinogen.
"Before we were using Styrofoam, our leukemia and depression rates were less," Lake said. "Now we have drugs for depression: We don't know what causes our depression, but "Here's something that will help."
To find out the truth for him-self, Lake took all the money he had last summer and built an 8-foot-by-8-foot-by 4-foot box. He filled half the box with Styrofoam trays he bought for a total of $500.
After four hours, he tested the air and found the benzene level was .01 parts per million and the styrene was .3 ppm. The next day, he tested again and found the benzene in the air had increased tenfold, to .1 ppm, and the styrene fivefold, to 1.5 ppm. The temperature in the box was 116.4 degrees.
"Coffee is what? 212 degrees," he said. "The hotter the food, the more it leeches. That's why you don't microwave styrene trays."
Now Lake is working to change the laws that allowed his profession to destroy his health. Today he will be at Hudson's Flag Day Parade, getting signatures on two possible legislative measures. Both petitions would be forwarded to Senators and Congressmen.
The first would eliminate Styrofoam as a food packaging material, because of the emission of benzene and styrene into food and air. "These chemicals are among the worst in tobacco smoke already recognized as a health hazard" reads the petition. "Don't be forced into being exposed because of the wide spread use of Styrofoam food containers."
The second measure would amend the "dedicated vehicles" section of the Sanitary Food Transportation law so that every truck that hauls food would have an "F" on its inspection sticker Then if a truck meant for food were hauling chemicals or other toxic substances, an inspector could impound the trailer and strip off its inspection sticker.
Lake said trucks are used to haul hazardous materials like asbestos in one direction, and then the same truck will haul food products on it's return trip. His wed site has spread sheets taken from trip logs of trucking companies to prove this.
But there's not a lot of help from Congress so far, he said. U.S. Rep.' John Sweeney, R- Clifton Park, is cosponsoring a bill to limit company's liability for asbestos poisoning.
"They're always screaming "terrorists, terrorists, terrorists," Lake said. "'They want truckers to 'be our eyes and ears,' yet they're poisoning truckers, by not upholding the laws."
To find out more about Lake's crusade, and the dangers associated with Styrofoam and truck contamination check out his web site, http://www.comfortncolor.com/HTML/PoisoningPage.html