The Challenge Posed to Children's Health by Mixtures of Toxic Waste: The Tar Creek Superfund Site as a Case-Study

Abstract

In the United States, many of the millions of tons of hazardous wastes that have been produced since World War II have accumulated in sites throughout the nation. Citizen concern about the extent of this problem led Congress to establish the Superfund Program in 1980 to locate, investigate, and clean up the worst sites nationwide. Most such waste exists as a complex mixture of many substances. This article discusses the issue of toxic mixtures and children's health by focusing on the specific example of mining waste at the Tar Creek Superfund Site in Northeast Oklahoma.