Another Reason to Walk — Parking Lots May Cause Scrotal Cancer

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For the flaneur, the blacktop parking lot is an aesthetic nightmare — a dead, lifeless, psychogeographically poisonous space that serves as a physical reminder of everything that is wrong with our lazy, vacuous culture.  For the less pretentious of you out there, parking lots — specifically the substance used to coat and protect them from the elements — may just give you and everyone you love cancer. So says a terrifying investigative story on MSNBC’s website.

The substance is coal tar sealant, a waste product of steel manufacturing that is used to protect pavement and asphalt against cracking and water damage, and to impart a nice dark sheen. It is applied most heavily east of the Rockies but is used in all 50 states.

But scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey say the sealant — one of two types commonly used in the U.S. — doesn’t stay put. It slowly wears off and is tracked into homes on the shoes of residents.

The USGS study, which found high levels of chemicals used in the sealant in house dust, marks the first time researchers have raised alarms about potential health effects for humans — especially young children — from the parking-lot coatings.

So what’s the verdict doc? What do avid tailgaters have to look forward to?

Coal tar is known to cause cancer in humans. That finding dates to the 1770s, when chimney sweeps in London were found to have high levels of scrotal cancer. Late the next century, it was associated with skin cancers among creosote workers. PAHs themselves are listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a probable human carcinogen, based on laboratory studies in which they caused cancer in animals.

You had me at scrotal cancer. I’ll continue walking as much as humanly possible, thank you very much.