We dislike this: The federal government wants to add two chemicals that have been widely used in the production of stain repellants and flame retardants to Canada's list of toxic substances, one of the most aggressive regulatory actions in the world against the compounds.
The substances, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and perfluorooctane sulfonate, have been widely used for decades in consumer products such as computers, mattresses, televisions, furniture and clothing. They are probably found in most homes in the country.
Ottawa is taking action because the chemicals, neither of which are manufactured in Canada, have been linked to a range of troubling symptoms in recent laboratory tests using rodents. The problems include conditions that resemble attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders in children, thyroid hormone disruption, decreased sperm counts, and in some cases, death.
Trace levels of the two chemicals have been detected in the bodies of almost all Canadians who have been tested. Elevated amounts have been found in wildlife, including Arctic mammals such as polar bears that are far from any known manufacturing facilities.
The two substances were among those profiled in a recent Globe and Mail series that investigated the exposure of Canadians to dangerous pollutants in household products.
PFOS, for instance, was a key ingredient in the Scotchgard brand of stain repellent used on clothing and carpets for nearly 40 years, until its manufacturer, 3M Corp., announced a phase-out in 2000.
Although the Conservative government has often triggered the ire of environmentalists for cutting climate-change programs, it received rare accolades yesterday from anti-pollution activists for its intention to classify the chemicals as toxic.
No other country has designated the entire class of PBDE flame retardants as dangerous. Chemical producers have been fighting an intense battle to keep the European Union, generally considered the world's leading regulator on pollutants, from moving against a PBDE formulation known as "deca" that Canada is proposing to regulate.
"The federal government has made the right decision and they deserve credit for that," said Rick Smith, executive director of the Toronto-based group Environmental Defence.
The main industry association of flame-retardant manufacturers, the Washington-based Bromine Science and Environmental Forum, could not be reached for comment.
Previous tests by Health Canada found Canadian women have the second highest levels of PBDEs in their breast milk in the world, after the United States.
In the Canada Gazette filing, the ministers said they didn't think exposures to breast-fed infants were high enough to cause harm, although they said more research would have to be done to prove this conclusively.
Why wasn't the research DONE!!! MONEY?? over LIFE.
So the government is banning these chemicals? I doubt that, especially since it means that a huge number of products would no longer be available in Canada. Personally, I'd love to see it, but I'll wait to see. If the conservatives do ban it, I suspect its to get in with the environmental crowd, but it sounds promising to me. IF they ban it, and that's a BIG 'if'.
3 comments:
We dislike this:
The federal government wants to add two chemicals that have been widely used in the production of stain repellants and flame retardants to Canada's list of toxic substances, one of the most aggressive regulatory actions in the world against the compounds.
The substances, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and perfluorooctane sulfonate, have been widely used for decades in consumer products such as computers, mattresses, televisions, furniture and clothing. They are probably found in most homes in the country.
Ottawa is taking action because the chemicals, neither of which are manufactured in Canada, have been linked to a range of troubling symptoms in recent laboratory tests using rodents. The problems include conditions that resemble attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders in children, thyroid hormone disruption, decreased sperm counts, and in some cases, death.
Trace levels of the two chemicals have been detected in the bodies of almost all Canadians who have been tested. Elevated amounts have been found in wildlife, including Arctic mammals such as polar bears that are far from any known manufacturing facilities.
The two substances were among those profiled in a recent Globe and Mail series that investigated the exposure of Canadians to dangerous pollutants in household products.
PFOS, for instance, was a key ingredient in the Scotchgard brand of stain repellent used on clothing and carpets for nearly 40 years, until its manufacturer, 3M Corp., announced a phase-out in 2000.
Although the Conservative government has often triggered the ire of environmentalists for cutting climate-change programs, it received rare accolades yesterday from anti-pollution activists for its intention to classify the chemicals as toxic.
No other country has designated the entire class of PBDE flame retardants as dangerous. Chemical producers have been fighting an intense battle to keep the European Union, generally considered the world's leading regulator on pollutants, from moving against a PBDE formulation known as "deca" that Canada is proposing to regulate.
"The federal government has made the right decision and they deserve credit for that," said Rick Smith, executive director of the Toronto-based group Environmental Defence.
The main industry association of flame-retardant manufacturers, the Washington-based Bromine Science and Environmental Forum, could not be reached for comment.
Previous tests by Health Canada found Canadian women have the second highest levels of PBDEs in their breast milk in the world, after the United States.
In the Canada Gazette filing, the ministers said they didn't think exposures to breast-fed infants were high enough to cause harm, although they said more research would have to be done to prove this conclusively.
Why wasn't the research DONE!!!
MONEY?? over LIFE.
So the government is banning these chemicals? I doubt that, especially since it means that a huge number of products would no longer be available in Canada. Personally, I'd love to see it, but I'll wait to see. If the conservatives do ban it, I suspect its to get in with the environmental crowd, but it sounds promising to me. IF they ban it, and that's a BIG 'if'.
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