Thousands suffer nausea, delirium, and other health issues from sewage toxins in Tijuana River

The smell of rotten eggs permeates Steve Egger's Southern California home, especially at night, as the nearby Tijuana River foams up with sewage from Mexico before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. Egger, 72, says he and his wife have frequent headaches and wake up daily congested and coughing up phlegm. Their home is outfitted with a hospital-grade air filtration system that cycles the air every 15 minutes. Since 2018, more than 100 billion gallons (378,541,178 cubic meters) of raw sewage laden with industrial chemicals and trash have poured into the Tijuana River, according to the International Boundary and Water Commission. The river traverses land where three generations of the Egger family once raised dairy cows. The United States and Mexico signed an agreement last year to clean up the longstanding problem by upgrading wastewater plants to keep up with Tijuana’s population growth and industrial waste from factories, many owned by U.S. companies. In the meantime, tens of thousands of people are being exposed to the sewage. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said during a February visit to San Diego that it will take about two years to resolve one of the nation’s worst and longest-running environmental crises, which affects a largely poor, Latino population. Raw sewage doesn’t just smell bad. It emits hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas that can erode neurons in the nose and trigger asthma attacks. It can cause headaches, nausea, delirium, tremors, cough, shortness of breath, skin and eye irritation, and even death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its long-term health problems are only starting to be understood. There is no federal safety standard for hydrogen sulfide except for workers at sites where the risk is extreme, such as wastewater treatment plants or manure pits. A few states set their own standards decades ago, but these are outdated. A California bill under consideration would require the state's 56-year-old standard to reflect the health risks of the gas. In Texas, lawmakers are also considering updating its law. Even if the California bill passes, the new standard would likely not be developed until 2030. This article was provided by The Associated Press.