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Mason County, Illinois: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Mason County is 197.9 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 2.2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 179 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (75), Air permit holder (minor source) (39), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (23). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 20 in a million, driven mainly by formaldehyde.

Rates are age-adjusted per 100,000 people. A cancer signal is marked significant when the lower bound of its 95 percent confidence interval is above the U.S. rate. Facility counts use active federal records located inside the county boundary. Approximate county center: 40.2423, -89.8588.

How this county ranks in Illinois

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Cancer deaths and new cases versus the United States

Source: NCI and CDC State Cancer Profiles, both sexes, all ages. Sorted by the ratio of the county rate to the U.S. rate.

Cancer rates for Mason County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	67.9	30.2	2.25xSignificant	52.7 to 86.9	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	106.7	51.8	2.06xSignificant	87.9 to 129.1	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	39	23.8	1.64xSignificant	25.9 to 56.6	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	26	17.9	1.45x	16.2 to 40.3	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	197.9	143.2	1.38xSignificant	171.2 to 228.3	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	24.3	18.5	1.31x	15.3 to 37.4	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	564	453.4	1.24xSignificant	515.6 to 616.2	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	16.5	13.9	1.19x	9.2 to 28	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	18.6	18.7	0.99x	11.2 to 30.1	2019-2023

Mortality measures versus the U.S. county median

Source: County Health Rankings, built from CDC National Vital Statistics System death records. The comparison value is the median of all U.S. counties.

Mortality measures for Mason County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,740	9,842.6	+9%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	73.8	75.3	-2%	years
Child mortality	92.9	59.8	+55%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	n/a	6.2	n/a	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	108	96.9	+11%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	n/a	28.6	n/a	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 20 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde16.62 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.97 per million
Acetaldehyde1.57 per million
Benzene0.76 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

No EPA air quality monitor reports daily AQI for this county.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

179 active records inside the county from EPA ECHO, TRI, Superfund, Brownfields, NPDES, EIA, FAA, FRA and corrections data.

Rail grade crossing75
Air permit holder (minor source)39
NPDES wastewater discharge permit23
Industrial wastewater discharge17
Gas station (mapped facility)8
Combined sewer overflow outfall7
Major air pollution source2
Brownfield property2
Heliport2
Public airport1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
TRI reporting facility1
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)1

Highest-severity records

The 25 records with the highest Envyrofax severity in the county, with the agency identifier to cite in a records request.

Crm Materials Inc, Mason City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001232158 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Havana Stw, City Of, Havana
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006770226 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Crm Materials Inc, Mason City
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110001232158 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Darling Ingredients Inc, Mason City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064141913 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Havana Stp, City Of, Havana
Combined sewer overflow outfall. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0023388:001 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Havana Stp, City Of, Havana
Combined sewer overflow outfall. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0023388:002 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Havana Stp, City Of, Havana
Combined sewer overflow outfall. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0023388:003 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Havana Stp, City Of, Havana
Combined sewer overflow outfall. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0023388:INF (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Mason City Stp, Mason City
Combined sewer overflow outfall. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0029815:001 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Mason City Stp, Mason City
Combined sewer overflow outfall. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0029815:A01 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Mason City Stp, Mason City
Combined sewer overflow outfall. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0029815:INF (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Mason City Stp, Mason City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009988004 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Intermet Havana Foundry, Havana
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001232167 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Dynegy Midwest Generation Llc Havana Power Station, Havana
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070834617 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Manito Stp, Village Of, Manito
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009735714 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Forest City High School, Forest City
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110046425472 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Former Prairieland Steel, Havana
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071986121 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Dynegy Midwest Generation Llc, Havana
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000595794 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Darling Ingredients Inc, Mason City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution).
TRI facility ID 62664NTNLB900SM (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Easton - Stp, Village Of, Easton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010024972 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Bath Wastewater Treatment Plant, Village Of, Bath
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009982812 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Havana Rgnl, Havana
Public airport. O.
Record ID 9I0 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Jake Wolf Memorial Fish Hatchery, Topeka
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006679175 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
San Jose Wtp, Village Of, San Jose
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006775132 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Canton Ready-Mix Inc, Havana
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010008259 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5

Correctional facilities

Prisons, jails and corrections operations with an EPA facility record, and the drinking water and wastewater compliance attached to them.

No correctional facility with an EPA record is located in this county.

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Mason County

Illinois state cancer registry
Cancer incidence counts by census tract or ZIP code, by cancer type and year (de-identified). Any cancer cluster inquiries or investigations in Mason County, and their findings.
Illinois vital statistics office
Death certificate counts by cause of death and residence tract or ZIP code, and the years behind the mortality measures above.
Illinois health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
Illinois environmental agency and the U.S. EPA regional office
Compliance history, inspection reports, notices of violation, penalties and enforcement actions for each facility above, cited by EPA FRS registry ID.
Illinois drinking water program
Violation notices, sampling results and sanitary surveys for the public water systems serving the county, including any system serving a correctional facility.
Department of corrections or county sheriff
Water testing, grievances and environmental health inspections for the correctional facilities listed above.

Each Envyrofax address report includes a printable records request worksheet with the custodian and the exact request wording per finding.

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