MI / county FIPS 26157 / county research

Tuscola County, Michigan: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Tuscola County is 173 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Leukemia deaths at 1.6 times the U.S. rate and Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.5 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 441 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (213), Brownfield property (57), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (52). 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: 43.4739, -83.4036.

How this county ranks in Michigan

View on the heat map Scan an address in this county

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 Tuscola County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Leukemia	Deaths	9.4	5.7	1.65xSignificant	6.5 to 13.4	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	43.9	30.2	1.45xSignificant	37.8 to 51	2020-2024
Esophagus	Deaths	5.1	3.7	1.38x	3 to 8.2	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	5.9	4.4	1.34x	3.6 to 9.2	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	5.9	4.6	1.28x	3.8 to 9	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	65.5	51.8	1.26xSignificant	57.9 to 74.1	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	6	4.8	1.25x	3.9 to 9	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	173	143.2	1.21xSignificant	160.1 to 186.7	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	22.2	18.7	1.19x	17.8 to 27.5	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	16.7	14.5	1.15x	12.6 to 21.8	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	19.8	17.9	1.11x	15.3 to 25.3	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	12	11.3	1.06x	9 to 15.9	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	6.9	6.6	1.05x	4.6 to 10.2	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	24	23.8	1.01x	18.8 to 30.2	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	456.6	453.4	1.01x	434.6 to 479.5	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	13.1	13.9	0.94x	9.8 to 17.3	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	16.8	18.5	0.91x	13.1 to 21.5	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	7	8.7	0.8x	4.5 to 10.4	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	9.6	13	0.74x	6.1 to 14.3	2019-2023
Stomach	New cases	4.4	6.6	0.67x	2.5 to 7.3	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 Tuscola County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	9,015.6	9,842.6	-8%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	75.3	75.3	+0%	years
Child mortality	47.4	59.8	-21%	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	88.2	96.9	-9%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	17.7	28.6	-38%	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.

Formaldehyde12.69 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.98 per million
Acetaldehyde1.24 per million
Benzene0.88 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 358 days: 329 good, 1 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 35, peak 112.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing213
Brownfield property57
NPDES wastewater discharge permit52
Industrial wastewater discharge41
Gas station (mapped facility)27
Air permit holder (minor source)14
Major air pollution source6
Public airport5
Wind power plant4
Small hazardous waste generator3
TRI reporting facility3
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)3
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
Large greenhouse gas emitter2
Hazardous waste transporter2
Oil-fired power plant2
EPA air quality monitor1
Commercial airport1
Gas power plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)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.

Michigan Sugar Co - Caro Factory, Caro
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001318770 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.9
Poet Biorefining-Caro Llc, Caro
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Acetaldehyde, Acrolein, n-Hexane, Formaldehyde and 3 more. Reports carcinogens. 98,472 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 48723MCHGN1551E (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.3
Dairy Farmers Of America Inc., Cass City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Nitric acid, Peracetic acid. 173,423 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 4872WDRYFRDIVIS (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7
Michigan Sugar Co - Caro Factory, Caro
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Peracetic acid. 45,528 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 48723MCHGN725AL (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.6
Michigan Sugar Co - Caro Factory, Caro
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001318770 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Poet Biorefining - Caro, Llc, Caro
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013399072 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.3
Dairy Farmers Of America-Cass, Cass City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069252472 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Michigan Sugar Co - Caro Factory, Caro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001318770 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Michigan Sugar Co - Caro Factory, Caro
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001318770 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Vassar Wwtp, Vassar
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006649920 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Millington Wwsl, Millington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009910711 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Millington Wfp, Millington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110028274944 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Aurora Farms Of Fairgrove-Cafo, Fairgrove
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039021377 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Gagetown Stp, Elmwood
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039700277 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Burns Family Farms, Llc-Cafo, Fairgrove
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040768666 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Rathmourne Dairy 9-Cafo, Cass City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041271110 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Burns Family Farm-Cafo, Millington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041951956 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Paramount Enterprises-Cafo, Caro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041952027 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Advanced Decorative Systems Inc, Millington
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041994036 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Advanced Decorative Systems Inc, Millington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041994036 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Eggers Excavating-Sheridan Rd, Vassar
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043488703 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Rayner Farms-Cafo, Fairgrove
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043731076 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Lee Wood Contract-Leix Rd Pit, Mayville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067611935 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Caro Municipal Airport, Caro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067615940 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Star Of The West, Richville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069586601 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5

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 Tuscola County

Michigan 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 Tuscola County, and their findings.
Michigan vital statistics office
Death certificate counts by cause of death and residence tract or ZIP code, and the years behind the mortality measures above.
Michigan health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
Michigan 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.
Michigan 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.

Scan an address in Tuscola County View on the heat map All Michigan counties