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Macon County, Missouri: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Macon County is 184.8 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 1.8 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 179 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (56), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (43), Air permit holder (minor source) (23). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 30 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: 39.8071, -92.5738.

How this county ranks in Missouri

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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 Macon County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	53.9	30.2	1.78xSignificant	41.3 to 69.7	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	29.9	17.9	1.67xSignificant	20.1 to 43.3	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	86	51.8	1.66xSignificant	70 to 105.2	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	184.8	143.2	1.29xSignificant	159.8 to 212.9	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	14.1	11.3	1.25x	7.7 to 24.2	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	16.3	13.9	1.17x	9.3 to 27.1	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	472.1	453.4	1.04x	429.9 to 517.6	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	24.4	23.8	1.03x	15 to 37.7	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	17	18.5	0.92x	10 to 27.7	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	16.8	18.7	0.9x	10.5 to 26.5	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 Macon County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	7,967.7	9,842.6	-19%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	75.9	75.3	+1%	years
Child mortality	n/a	59.8	n/a	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	79.4	96.9	-18%	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: 30 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde18.16 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.94 per million
Acetaldehyde1.66 per million
Benzene0.78 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 crossing56
NPDES wastewater discharge permit43
Air permit holder (minor source)23
Industrial wastewater discharge17
Combined sewer overflow outfall7
Gas station (mapped facility)7
Small hazardous waste generator4
Oil-fired power plant4
Brownfield property3
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)3
Public airport2
Large greenhouse gas emitter2
TRI reporting facility2
Major air pollution source1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Heliport1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
Gas power plant1
Solar power plant1

Highest-severity records

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

Northeast Missouri Grain Llc, Macon
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Ammonia, Acrolein, n-Hexane and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 49,215 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 63552NRTHS30211 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.1
Conagra Foods Packaged Foods Llc - Macon, Macon
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitric acid, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution). 27,531 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 63552CNGRF216VI (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.4
Poet Biorefining - Macon Llc, Macon
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033218845 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.2
Us Army National Guard Macon Ranges, Macon
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens. 102 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 6355WSRMYN29614 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6
Macon Wwtp, Macon
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MO0023221: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 6
Macon, Missouri - Frozen Foods, Macon
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000442343 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
New Cambria Wwtf, New Cambria
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009874582 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Bevier Wwtf, Bevier
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009874653 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Macon Wwtp, Macon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001123702 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Sub 3 Generating Station, Macon
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 56128 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Sub 2 Generating Station, Macon
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 56126 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
La Plata, La Plata
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 2140 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Macon, Macon
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 2141 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Advanced Disposal - Maple Hill Landfill, Macon
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006726123 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Macon Wwtp, Macon
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MO0023221:001 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Macon Wwtp, Macon
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MO0023221:SM1 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Macon Wwtp, Macon
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MO0023221:SM2 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Macon Wwtp, Macon
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MO0023221:W02 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Macon Wwtp, Macon
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MO0023221:W03 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Macon Wwtp, Macon
Combined sewer overflow outfall. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MO0023221:W05 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Special D Meats, Macon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006735578 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Advanced Disposal - Maple Hill Landfill, Macon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006726123 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Callao Pws, Callao
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009870504 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Buck Ridge Custom Meats, Excello
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071346401 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Macon Energy Center, Macon
Gas power plant.
Record ID 56127 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 3

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 Macon County

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