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Triclosan: Lurking where you least expect it
Government hard at work - and it isn't pretty
About that New York Times sunscreen column. . .
Just a little bit of history repeating: Pollution and sex ratio
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Why, oh why is there plastic in my aluminum water bottle?
Cell phone radiation series - Part 2: 8 Ways to reduce your exposure
Infant formula: How to choose it & use it
EWG's Tips for Parents: The Series
EWG's Tips to avoid BPA exposure
Let's talk some serious shop about TSCA reform
EWG on TV
Cutting the Pork from U.S. Farm Bill
Sunscreen safety & DC drinking water
Perchlorate in people, kids' personal care products & plastics, and sunscreen
BPA in baby formula & safe cosmetics
What can I do about fluoride in my water?
What is new carpet treated with? What can I do?
Are stainless steel water bottles safe?
Is mineral-based makeup safer?
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Monthly Archive
PB&J for a better world
In the environmental community, there's a lot of discussion about how to best convey the message of action to the rest of the country. The general consensus is that giving people small actions that are easy to achieve but have a real impact creates a sense of success, and that encourages them to do more -- hence the ubiquitous "Switch to CFLs!"
On the food side of things, a campaign started earlier this year encourages us all to switch from animal-based lunches (like burgers or grilled cheese) to veggie-based lunches like PB&J:
If you're anything like me, right now you're going "Uh-huh, and I bet it's funded by the peanut industry. Or Smuckers." Apparently, the PB&J campaign has gotten a lot of that. The very first paragraph of their "About Us" section states:
The PB&J Campaign is an effort of private citizens concerned about the environment. We've been a little surprised and amused by speculation that the PB&J Campaign is a front for the National Peanut Board, animal rights groups, or even Smuckers. To be clear, the PB&J Campaign is not funded or coordinated by any business or advocacy organizations.
Well, that's a relief. The campaign says that switching to veggie-based lunches conserves water, reduces water pollution, saves pounds of CO2 per sandwich and more efficiently converts plants into energy. And don't worry, if you're allergic to peanuts; any veggie-based lunch will have a lower carbon footprint than a ham sandwich. Even, as they point out in this recent blog post, the Fu Wa tofu hoagie.
Congress approves phthalate ban
Good news for parents and children everywhere: Congress has agreed to a ban on three dangerous phthalates in products made for children under 12. The decision came in spite of the chemical industry's desperate (and well-funded) attempt to shut the provision down. Exxon-Mobil alone spent a significant portion of its $22 million lobbying budget on the project, according to Lyndsey Layton at The Washington Post.
The provision, which would also require extensive testing of three other types of phthalates before potentially banning them, is a part of a major piece of legislation overhauling the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Although President Bush has said that he disagrees with the phthalate ban (no surprise there), I'm willing to speculate that it would probably be hard for him to veto the entire bill, since its purpose is to protect American consumers.
This is, of course, a major step in the right direction, but is it a harbinger of major change to come? Andy Igrejas of the Pew Charitable Trusts told Layton,
"The debate over this one set of chemicals is a referendum on a broken system. Congress saw just how screwed up the system is in protecting people from chemicals, especially children."
Meanwhile, Layton writes that the ban "signals an important crack in the chemical industry's ability to fend off federal regulation and suggests that the landscape may be shifting to favor consumers." Here's hoping they're right -- we're about due for a landscape shift.
Photo by Nat.
Dr. Research explains it all. . . in 1958
The year is 1958, and Dr. Research and his intrepid team at Bell Laboratory are on a mission to warn the world about the disastrous impacts of carbon emissions. But will anyone listen?
Um. . . apparently not. And this is basically an after-school special! Makes you wonder how long scientists have been aware of the possibility of climate change, and how we ended up where we are today. Wikipedia has more on The Bell Laboratory Science Series.
Via Red, Green and Blue.
Honoring the Archdruid
David Brower, more than anyone else except possibly Rachel Carson, was the creative force behind the modern American environmental movement. As the first executive director of the Sierra Club, he transformed it from a Northern California hiking club into a potent national political force. When the Sierra Club started compromising too much to suit him, he resigned and founded Friends of the Earth, then went on to help start the California League of Conservation Voters and Earth Island Institute. (He liked to say that each organization was founded to make the one before it seem reasonable.) The subject of one of the best books ever written about the movement, John McPhee's Encounters With the Archdruid, Brower died in 2000 at age 88 in his hometown of Berkeley, where Earth Island is building a super-green center for eco-activism in his honor.
Brower was also a world-class mountaineer. So at the urging of some constituents, Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein have introduced legislation to change the name of North Palisade Peak to Brower Palisade. Brower was on the first team of climbers to make a winter ascent of the peak, which at 14,242 feet is the fourth-highest in California.
“Our nation owes David Brower a significant debt for his role in shaping the modern environmental movement during the 1950s and 1960s," said Feinstein. "He helped to preserve vast acres of wilderness in California and across the country. And he has inspired new generations of activists to the cause of safeguarding America’s rich natural heritage."
Not so fast, said Rep. Devin Nunes of Visalia, a Republican whose district includes North Palisade, on the edge of Kings Canyon National Park in Fresno County. He told the Los Angeles Times that Brower wasn't a hero to him, or to the people he represents.
"I most likely wouldn't support it. If you look at a lot of these radical groups that were formed, they've cost my district thousands of jobs. Take the timber industry: We let our forests burn up and meanwhile buy all our wood from Canada -- it's kind of a sad deal."
Even some of Brower's admirers have mixed feelings about the idea. Craig Dostie, senior editor of Backcountry magazine, who lives in the northern Sierra, said he has a "sentimental attachment" to the name North Palisade, that it evokes memories of notable ascents.
The prospects for renaming North Palisade are mixed at best. The head of the U.S. Board on Geographical Names says the government is reluctant to rename physical features.
I've never climbed North Palisade and probably never will, but I'm a bit taken aback to find myself on the same side as Nunes – for very different reasons. Brower loved the Sierra so deeply, and so firmly rejected the idea of himself as a hero, that I bet he wouldn't want his name attached to a mountain. (I'll also bet the notion didn't come from the circumstances Brower often said were the source of the environmental movement's best ideas: scrawled on a bar napkin at last call.) The organizations David Brower founded, and their tireless work to protect public health and natural resources, are monuments enough.
Triclosan: Lurking where you least expect it
This post by EWG research intern Natalia is a follow-up to last week's post Antibacterial: Not just for soap anymore. For more on how to avoid triclosan, check out this cheatsheet.
It might be in your toothbrush. Your socks. Your child’s rattle.
Then again – it might not be. But do you know for sure?
In my last post I touched on some of the environmental hazards of antimicrobials such as triclosan, a general-purpose antifungal and antibacterial chemical found in many personal care products, plastics, and textiles.
However, one of the most worrying things about these chemicals is that while we know how potentially harmful their effects can be, both for the environment and our own health, it’s surprisingly difficult to find information on the products which actually contain these compounds.
In some cases, manufacturers are honest about the antimicrobials they use, but quietly bury their names in the small print of the ingredients labels in a variety of everyday products. To name just a few surprising examples: Colgate Total toothpastes, Clearasil Pimple Treatment Cream, and Right Guard Sport Deodorant all contain triclosan.
In other cases, it can be nearly impossible to determine which products contain antimicrobial agents such as triclosan. Increasing numbers of manufacturers now label products as “antibacterial” without specifying the specific chemicals used. The problem becomes more even complicated when companies play shell games to disguise which of their products contain antimicrobial compounds. A prime example of this is the Microban Product Company.
Contrary to popular belief, triclosan is not the same as Microban. Triclosan is officially registered under the EPA as “Microban additive B” – that is to say, any given product sold under the Microban trade name does not necessarily contain triclosan. Which antimicrobial agent is being used for those products, however, the company will not disclose: it could quite literally be anything!
As concern about environmental issues grows, more and more consumers are trying to make responsible, environmentally-friendly choices in their shopping. Unfortunately, this change cannot happen if companies aren’t fully transparent in labeling their products.
Don’t let advertising gimmicks hide important information about products and the chemicals they contain! You have a right to know what’s in the products you buy. Join us in calling for complete industry disclosure in product labeling – because the choice should be in your hands, not made for you.
Government hard at work - and it isn't pretty
Bad news of the day: It is fast only when it want to be.
One would think that if it takes the government over 30 years to set safety standards for sunscreen, they would be as "effective" on other aspects of their work. But, no, that is not the case with this administration (and unfortunately many others before this one).
The last few months of the Bush administration are being used to push for a rule that would make it tougher to regulate workers' on-the-job exposure to chemicals and toxins. This is all being done at the Department of Labor, by the political appointees of the commander-in-chief.
According to a Washington Post investigation, the Department of Labor did not disclose the proposal (even though that is required) in public notices, and the text of it is still not made public. The Post further states that the proposal would
"call for reexamining the methods used to measure risks posed by workplace exposure to toxins. The change would address long-standing complaints from businesses that the government overestimates the risk posed by job exposure to chemicals.The rule would also require the agency to take an extra step before setting new limits on chemicals in the workplace by allowing an additional round of challenges to agency risk assessments.
The department's speed in trying to make the regulatory change contrasts with its reluctance to alter workplace safety rules over the past 7 1/2 years. In that time, the department adopted only one major health rule for a chemical in the workplace, and it did so under a court order."
Many people are exposed to toxic chemicals at work, and the public as well as those employees often lack knowledge about exposures. A while ago, we did a conducted a nationwide survey of nurses that suggests associations between the health of nurses and their children and the nurses' long-term exposures to the many hazardous chemicals, drugs, and other agents they encounter over the course of a workday. There are so many people that are exposed to toxic chemicals through their professions that the last thing we need is federal action making it tougher to regulate workplace exposures.
I can't help but to think of The Simpsons:
"Lisa, the whole reason we have elected officials is so we don't have to think all the time. Just like that rainforest scare a few years back. Our officials saw there was a problem and they fixed it, didn't they?" -- Homer Simpson
About that New York Times sunscreen column. . .
A recent New York Times column on sunscreen has been getting a lot of traction on the internet, and since it's partly about, um, us, we thought it was worth a response.
In the column, author Tara Parker Pope quotes Dr. Warwick L. Morison as saying of EWG, "What they are doing is developing their own system for evaluating things." He's right, to a degree, but the method we use is far from "arbitrary" as Morison suggests. In fact, our assessment is based on sunscreen industry data and other published studies on sun protection.
Morison doesn't mention that the Skin Cancer Foundation, where he sits as chairman of the Foundation's photobiology committee, also has their own system for evaluating sunscreens. Unfortunately, SCF's methods fall short.
At a cost of $10,000 to the manufacturer, the Skin Cancer Foundation endorses sunscreen products based on an evaluation that fails to consider two critical factors: whether or not the product protects against UVA protection, and whether the ingredient soaks through the skin and raises health concerns. A quick scan of the sunscreens they endorse reveals several products that don't contain a single approved UVA-screening chemical -- including a product made specifically for kids. Did you catch that? The Skin Cancer Foundation actually endorses a children's sunscreen that provides completely insufficient protection from UVA rays.
As chair of the committee that heads up these assessments, Dr. Morison may not be paid for his work, but he might realize that the organization could be perceived as having a vested interest in defending the products they endorse. The Skin Cancer Foundation's limited and financially conflicted method does not protect consumers.
Our scientists go beyond these limited factors to assess if products provide full-spectrum UV protection, and if they end up in the body in significant amounts. We base our assessments not just on SPF ratings (UVB protection), but also on industry models of UVA protection and peer-reviewed scientific studies on exposures and health risks from sunscreen chemicals.
Dr. Morison's critique of EWG's methods would be more productively aimed at FDA, which has failed to finalize the sunscreen safety standards they began developing 30 years ago. Currently, sunscreens aren¹t required to protect from damaging UVA radiation, manufacturers can (and do) use misleading claims like "instant" and "all-day" and "waterproof" protection, and many brands contain chemicals that absorb through the skin into the blood, raising potential health concerns.
What it comes down to is this: not all sunscreens are the same. We highlight products the provide solid UVA and UVB protection without putting potentially toxic chemicals into the blood of people who use them. Oxybenzone is a chemical to avoid because there's clear evidence that it gets into our blood, and because there's some data implicating it in hormone disruption and UV-related damage. There are sunscreens on the market that offer better protection without all those health risks. Why on earth wouldn't we recommend them?
The Environmental Working Group recommends products that work without posing significant health concerns. The Skin Cancer Foundation and the FDA should ensure that they are doing the same. With more than a million cases of skin cancer diagnosed each year, people can't afford to wait any longer.
Just a little bit of history repeating: Pollution and sex ratio
PCBs were banned in the '70s, but not before they had already done their damage. They're linked to problems with the brain, nervous and hormone systems, and although average levels in the human body have dropped, human exposure continues. See, PCBs are persistent contaminants, which means they build up in the environment and in us.
Evidence continues to build that PCBs also affect birth sex. A recent study of blood serum from women who were pregnant in San Francisco in the '60s found that those with higher PCB levels were more likely to give birth to boys than those with low PBC levels. The study puts another nail in the coffin for PCBs, but Dr. Pete Myers brings up an important point in his summary of the report:
The exposure levels observed in the study are high compared to today. Thus if these results are indicative of a causal relationship (never possible to confirm with epidemiological studies) then the simplest prediction would be that the chances of having a boy baby should be increasing because PCBs have been decreasing. That is not the case, at least as of the most recent analysis from Canada and the US.
He's right. Evidence from a large-scale study of four industrialized nations indicates that the sex ratio is skewed, and fewer boys are being born -- and, since PCB levels have dropped, we probably can't blame it on that.
But we can look to PCBs as evidence that in-utero exposure to pollutants can affect a child's sex. There are more than 80,000 chemicals in production today, many of which are known to be persistent or to disrupt hormone systems, and most of which haven't really tested for their impact on human health. And you know what? By the time we get around to cleaning up those culprits, they will have done their damage, too.
How many times must history repeat itself before we get our act together and demand that chemical companies put people before profits?
Photo by Erik R. Bishoff.
Taking another look at rocket fuel
The state of California, responding to a petition from EWG and other groups, is going to re-evaluate the health effects of perchlorate, the explosive ingredient in rocket fuel and a potent thyroid toxin. The Office of Environmental Hazard Assessment agreed they should look at new evidence that wasn't available in 2004, when they set a Public Health Goal of 6 parts per billion in drinking water, which the state has since adopted as a drinking water standard. EWG's March 2007 analysis of a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Boston University found that Boston-area infants were receiving twice as much perchlorate as the federal government's profoundly inadequate safety standard. We hope the new evidence convinces California to join Massachusetts by setting a new drinking water standard of 1 ppb or lower.
Science on sale: I'll take three
Nowadays, everything seems to be on sale. And I am not talking about the end of the season clearances in stores around us. I'm talking about how if you have enough money you can often buy what ever you want with it -- public support, freedom, education and yes, science.
Here at EWG we work extensively on science for sale issues. Our chromium fraud investigation revealed that safety standards from chromium-6 - the "Erin Brockovich" chemical - had been skewed by a cancer study that was faked by an industry scientist. We revealed the influence of industry on a Harvard professor's suppression of research on fluoride and bone cancer. We blew the whistle on corporate-cozy government contractors in the case of potent chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) and uncovered the major conflict of interest of Sciences International, a consultant that was running the federal safety review of BPA while also working for the chemical industry. As the result of our work, Congress began an investigation of corrupt contracting throughout all regulatory agencies.
But even with EWG's work and the work of other watch dog groups, the situation is still far from being resolved. The question to ask, when thinking about conflict of interest, is who is paying for it and how is that influencing the questions being asked.
BPA is a poster child chemical for funding biases. According to a recent Washington Post article by David Michaels,
"One of the eyebrow-raising statistics about the BPA studies is the stark divergence in results, depending on who funded them. More than 90 percent of the 100-plus government-funded studies performed by independent scientists found health effects from low doses of BPA, while none of the fewer than two dozen chemical-industry-funded studies did.This striking difference in studies isn't unique to BPA. When a scientist is hired by a firm with a financial interest in the outcome, the likelihood that the result of that study will be favorable to that firm is dramatically increased. This close correlation between the results desired by a study's funders and those reported by the researchers is known in the scientific literature as the "funding effect."
Having a financial stake in the outcome changes the way even the most respected scientists approach their research. Scientists make many decisions about the doses, exposure methods and disease definitions they use in their experiments, and each decision affects the result."
Often, the scientists just plainly manipulate the results. But, according to the Michaels, sometimes close examination of those studies shows that they are comparable in the quality of data and sometimes even better. The puzzle is then, how does that happen?
There are many ways to manipulate the science when the industry is paying the tab--the scientist might not be asking the questions they should be asking; industry funded studies might also be designed to create certain results (and not show some others); as the case with Sciences International and BPA analysis shows, there could be industry presence in choosing the scientific literature that could have big impact on conclusions and so on.
Corporate sponsorship of science should stop once and for all. With the global increases of diseases, public health is not something that should be taken lightly. And there should be no price tag attached to it.
Mixed Greens 014: Not the answer
What do drilling for gas on public lands and antibacterial chemicals in consumer products have in common? Neither of them are the answer to our problems. We've got the rundown on two new EWG reports in this edition of Mixed Greens.
Mixed Greens is EWG's environmental health podcast. You can subscribe in iTunes or in a reader, or listen right here in your browser. Check out previous episodes for more Mixed Greens goodness!
Links for this edition:
EWG Report: Coming Up Dry
EWG Report: Pesticide in Soap, Toothpaste and Breast Milk - Is It Kid-Safe?
Cheatsheet: Triclosan
Cheatsheet: Triclosan
What is triclosan?
Triclosan is an antibacterial chemical found in many consumer products. It’s nearly ubiquitous in liquid hand soap and dishwashing detergent, but those aren’t the only products it’s in. Triclosan is also a common ingredient in toothpaste, facewash, deodorant, a host of personal care products, and even mattresses, toothbrushes and shoe insoles.
A U.S. FDA advisory committee has found that household use of antibacterial products provides no benefits over plain soap and water, and the American Medical Association recommends that triclosan not be used in the home, as it may encourage bacterial resistance to antibiotics.
What problems are associated with triclosan?
Triclosan is linked to liver and inhalation toxicity, and low levels of triclosan may disrupt thyroid function. Wastewater treatment does not remove all of the chemical, which means it ends up in our lakes, rivers and water sources. That’s especially unfortunate since triclosan is very toxic to aquatic life.
HOW TO AVOID TRICLOSAN
- Forgo antibacterial soap. FDA says it’s no more effective than plain soap and water.
- Watch for the antibacterial chemicals triclosan and triclocarban (triclosan's chemical cousin) in personal care products. Read ingredient labels or use Skin Deep to find products without them.
- Avoid “antibacterial” products.Triclosan is used in everyday products like toothbrushes, toys, and cutting boards that may be labeled “antibacterial,” "fights germs," "protection against mold," or make claims such as “odor-fighting” or “keeps food fresher, longer.”
Triclosan may be in these products:
- soap and dishwashing liquid
- towels
- mattresses
- sponges
- personal care products
- shower curtains
- toothbrushes
- phones
- kitchenware and plastic food containers
- shoes
- flooring and carpets
- cutting boards
- clothing and fabrics
- toys
Tips to control germs:
To protect your family’s health from harmful microorganisms, follow these helpful tips from the EPA:
- Wash hands frequently and thoroughly with plain soap.
- Wash surfaces that contact food (e.g., utensils, cutting boards, counter tops) with a regular (not "antibacterial") detergent and warm water.
- Wash children's hands and toys regularly. Again, simple soap and good old-fashioned scrubbing will suffice.
Where can I learn more?
Read EWG's report on triclosan exposure.
Use this handy map to track down the triclosan in your house.
Triclosan-free body care products in Skin Deep.
Photo by Anthony Salvi.
Antibacterial: Not just for soap anymore
This post is by EWG research intern Natalia, who's been hard at work assisting with our report about triclosan in consumer products.
Although most shoppers probably don’t know it, "antibacterial" isn’t just for soap anymore. From sports clothing to cutting boards, deodorants, and children’s toys, a wide range of consumer products are now commonly treated with antimicrobial pesticides such as triclosan.
Never heard of triclosan? You’re not alone – most people haven’t! But if you look at the back label of your antibacterial soap, it’s likely you will find it listed as the active ingredient. In fact, you might be amazed how many consumer products contain triclosan. Besides extensive use in liquid soaps and numerous personal care products, different antibacterial chemicals are added to plastics and textiles to provide protection against bacteria and mold and to eliminate odors.
It’s easy to think that antimicrobial products solve many immediate problems: they kill bacteria on your hands and prevent mildew growth in your carpet. And indeed, in a time when many Americans are becoming increasingly concerned with cleanliness, antimicrobial products may appear to be perfect weapons in our "war on germs." However, the American Medical Association, Food and Drug Administration, and numerous scientists all around the world would beg to differ.
In 2002, the American Medical Association has publicly recommended that “[because] no data exist to support their efficacy when used in such products or any need for them […] it may be prudent to avoid the use of antimicrobial agents in consumer products.”
And in 2005, researchers from Tufts University, Columbia University, and University of Michigan reached the same conclusion:
“Currently, no evidence suggests that use of antibacterial soap containing 0.2% triclosan provides a benefit over plain soap in reducing bacterial counts and rate of infectious symptoms in generally healthy persons in the household setting.”
Fair enough; but the argument against the use of antimicrobial products isn’t simply about whether or not antibacterial hand soap has health benefits. It’s also about what happens after you wash that soap down the drain.
Antimicrobial compounds like triclosan tend to be broad-spectrum in focus, acting against a large group of micro-organisms rather than a particular species. The problem is that not everything that these chemicals target is actually bad for you – in fact, you probably rely on the help of some of these organisms every day. I’d like to take this moment to introduce the humble Pseudomonas.
Accompanied by several species of industrious bacteria, protozoa, and occasionally fungi, this tiny bacterium plays a vital role in many wastewater treatment plants across the country as part of the "activated sludge process." Because they help break down raw sewage to prepare it for later processing, proper sewage treatment would not be possible without these little guys – but unfortunately, they’re also very vulnerable to antimicrobial compounds.
The problem doesn’t stop there, however. Standard sewage treatment methods are not designed to remove pharmaceuticals, chemicals from personal care products, and antimicrobial compounds that flow down the drain. And indeed, scientific studies indicate that a significant portion of triclosan remains in the wastewater discharged by sewage treatment plants into lakes, rivers, and oceans.
On top of that, when pure triclosan is sold as an additive to manufacturers, the EPA requires all product safety labels to include this warning: “This pesticide is toxic to fish and other organisms. Do not discharge into lakes, streams, ponds, estuaries, oceans, or other public waters.” I’ve added the bolding, but warning’s meaning is quite clear: even if the amount of triclosan released to our waterways may seem small, it can nevertheless have big effects.
When concentrations of triclosan build beyond certain (fairly low) levels, it can kill all kinds of aquatic life, including algae and invertebrates such as crawfish and crabs. Furthermore, it can disrupt entire food chains, as fish that eat the affected algae and invertebrates can accumulate triclosan in their own tissues. In turn, this can lead to buildup of triclosan in the fatty tissues of birds and humans that consume these fish, thereby completing the unpleasant cycle.
Ultimately, it seems that although antimicrobials are now found in a wide variety of consumer products, the “perfect solution” they offer is in fact not so perfect at all. Although antibacterial compounds in hand soaps and surgical masks do play an important role in preventing the spread of infection in hospital settings, studies have shown that compounds such as triclosan provide dubious, if any, short term health benefits in everyday settings. In addition, these chemicals’ harmful effects on helpful bacteria and aquatic life can have further consequences for human health.
So the next time you’re at the store, show your local fish and Pseudomonas that you care – take a moment to read the ingredients label before buying that new bottle of soap. They’ll thank you for it.
Photo by Anthony Salvi.
THURSDAY: Video Q&A on Antibacterial Products
What exactly is that stuff you're washing your hands with?
The Environmental Working Group is releasing a report Thursday morning about antibacterial chemicals in consumer products -- and we think you'll be surprised to find out how many products this stuff is in.
We're inviting Enviroblog readers to join EWG Scientist Rebecca Sutton for a video Q&A about the report tomorrow (Thursday, July 17th) at 4:30 EST.
Just go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/environmental-working-group and type in your questions about the report, and you'll get to see Rebecca answer them. Isn't technology awesome?
See you there!
Photo by Anthony Salvi.
Carbon sequestration: Bubbly water for everyone!
So, how do you feel about bubbly water?
EPA has issued an initial rule on carbon sequestration -- that's where coal plants and other major carbon dioxide sources pump the gas into the ground, where (hopefully) it stays and doesn't contribute to climate change. Because the sequestered gas could potentially leak into drinking water sources, the proposed rule would add specific rules for carbon dioxide burial to the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act.
The Associated Press said the rule "creates extensive siting, testing and monitoring requirements to prevent leaks." That sounds promising, doesn't it?
I sure hope their assessment is correct. If they're wrong, and EPA doesn't hold companies to strict regulations, the result could be a lot worse than bubbly tap water. If it leaks into drinking water, too much carbon dioxide can make the water acidic. Acidic water can leach heavy metals from rock, and I'm guessing you probably don't want to be drinking lead-water. Also, sequestration would have to be done well and carefully to ensure that carbon dioxide didn't leak out of the ground and back into the atmosphere.
Obviously the best plan is to stop producing so much carbon dioxide, but it looks like carbon sequestration is going to happen. There won't be a final rule for another two or three years, though, so we'll be keeping an eye on the technology and the regulations to see if it can be done safely.
Photo by Philosophy Geek.
Imagine a tangled toxic mess
Imagine a flame-retardant chemical so clearly toxic that the National Cancer Institute, the World Health Organization and the Consumer Product Safety Commission all consider it harmful. Enough studies document its link to cancer that manufacturers no longer use it in children's pajamas. It's also clearly linked reproductive and developmental problems in lab animals.
Now imagine -- and this probably won't be hard -- that the government still allows this chemical to be produced, and manufacturers use it increasingly in a wide variety of products, from couches to baby carriers, and that the EPA's website only lists studies by the chemical industry, only one of which was peer-reviewed or published. Imagine that all of those studies say the flame retardant is safe. (Try to imagine that you're surprised.)
So you're imagining a toxic chemical that's being used widely in consumer products, and you're probably thinking that your imaginary self would want to avoid it. Wish her good luck, and then imagine this: there's essentially no way to avoid it, not only because products that contain it aren't labeled, but because not even manufacturers know when this risky chemical is being used.
The chemical is real, and it's called chlorinated Tris. Angry? I imagine you are. I know I am. Chlorinated Tris is one of 80,000 reasons that we need a new chemical regulatory law.
Photo: Cutest Baby Ever by Call It Crazy.
The chemical industry's war on California toxics reform
Raise your hand if you want your food packaging – hamburger wrappers, french-fry bags, pizza boxes – coated with cancer-causing Teflon chemicals that pollute the bodies of unborn babies and Arctic polar bears. How about baby bottles and sippy cups made with hormone-disrupting chemicals that are about to be banned in Canada and that Wal-Mart and Target have pulled off the shelf?
I didn't think so.
But the chemical industry, with its typical regard for your health, is waging a take-no-prisoners war in California to stop the state from banning those same chemicals.
The American Chemistry Council and DuPont are leading the ranks of lobbying groups and companies who, between them, have hired an army of lobbyists – including a K Street firm that ran Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's first campaign – and are paying them hundreds of thousands of dollars to block the proposed bans. They're using scare tactics, telling food banks that a ban on bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles would mean the end of canned goods. They're brazenly greenwashing, calling one of their food-packaging chemicals – C6, which EWG found in the blood of 10 of 10 newborns – a shining example of the "green chemistry" movement they say is going to transform the industry.
An aide to Sen. Ellen Corbett, author of Senate Bill 1313, which would ban perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) from food packaging, counted 13 lobbyists who've been hired by companies or groups trying to stop the bill. The odds seemed so long against the outnumbered environmental, health and labor groups backing the bill that gasps were heard from lobbyists in the hearing room when the Assembly Health Committee approved the bill a couple of weeks ago.
SB 1713, by Sen. Carole Migden, would ban BPA from baby bottles, sippy cups, and any food container or feeding device intended for children 3 and under. It doesn't have as many registered opponents arrayed against it. But the most recent players to come on board are Navigators LLC, a lobbying firm with offices in Washington and Sacramento, that steered Gov. Schwarzenegger's 2003 campaign and his campaign for budget reform in 2004. Navigators principal Mike Murphy was chief campaign strategist for Arnold in 2003 and Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign in 2000, and just joined NBC and MSNBC as a pundit, after speculation that he would step in to rescue McCain's currently floundering campaign.
Navigators wasted no time in raising the ante and lowering the bar. On July 9, Colleen Coghlan, a senior communications consultant in the Sacramento offices of Navigators, sent the following email, obtained by EWG, to an unknown number of non-profit food banks in California. I'm not sure who the coalition she mentions consists of; disclosure reports for current lobbying activity won't be available until the end of the month.
Canned Goods Removed from Food Banks?By way of introduction, my name is Colleen Coghlan and I am working with a large coalition of members within the health, business and food community to build awareness of a bill moving ahead in Sacramento.
As written, SB 1713 (Migden) could lead to the removal of food from the shelves of grocery stores as well as those from local food banks. SB 1713 becoming law will result in the loss of safe and necessary consumer products such as the following canned and jarred:
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Sauces
• Olives
• Pickles
• Tuna and other seafood
• Pasta
• Beans
• Soup
• Chili
• Whipped Toppings
• Cooking Spray
• Chicken
• Sausages
• Meats
• Milk, condensed and evaporated
• JuiceThe burden on consumers created by SB 1713 unfairly falls upon society’s most vulnerable who do not have access to alternatively packaged products which are often more expensive and less available to consumers. This bill would ban Bisphenol A (BPA), an epoxy lining, which acts as a barrier to contamination, used in almost all food containers.
BPA has been tested, scientifically reviewed and approved for safe use in food containers by the responsible regulatory agencies in the USA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency), European Union (European Food Safety Commission), Canada (HealthCanada) and Japan (Japanese Ministry of Environment) and has been safely used for over 50 years.
Ensuring CA families eat healthy and have access to the foods they need should be a priority for the state. The current manner in which this bill is written would create greater difficulty for parents to get access to the food their families need.
I could call in an EWG toxicologist to refute Coghlan's claims one by one, but it should suffice to counter the biggest whopper: Migden's bill is specifically aimed at containers for food intended for babies and toddlers – most importantly, formula packages. Even if you don't believe the hundreds of studies showing harm at current levels of BPA exposure, shouldn't we be more cautious when it comes to babies?
This is not nanny government. Neither one of these bills tries to ban all uses of the chemicals, or any uses for which there aren't already safe alternatives. Corbett's bill seeks to eliminate the most direct route of exposure – putting the chemical in your mouth and swallowing it – for a chemical that DuPont has agreed to phase out nationally by 2015. That's too long to wait on a toothless, loophole-ridden agreement the company only accepted after the EPA fined it $16 million for concealing evidence of PFCs' health risks.
The chemical industry is trying to have it both ways, saying legislators shouldn't have to make chemical-by-chemical decisions, but at the same time refusing to support more ambitious reform bills. If reform must come, they would rather see it come from the state-sanctioned Green Chemistry Initiative, which gives corporations a seat at the table in proposing safer chemicals. But the GCI is still in its first draft, and today's 3-year-olds could be in middle school before we see results. I don't think the prospect of a better chemical regulatory system in the future frees the Legislature – or the governor – from taking action now against two very clear threats to public health.
Farm livin': Not the life for toads
Living on or near agricultural land has feminizing effects on male cane toads, according to a recent report by Florida scientists. After comparing toads from a range of areas, from non-agricultural suburbia to 97% farmland, they found that male farm toads were more likely to have female physical traits. In the two heaviest agricultural areas examined, 60% of the male toads were feminized to some degree, and 40% were fully intersexed (meaning they had equal parts male and female reproductive tissue).
We probably shouldn't be too surprised. Two common agricultural chemicals (Round-Up and atrazine) are already known estrogen-mimicking hormone disruptors. There's a good chance that other agricultural chemicals are contributing to the toad problem.
In the unlikely case that you're thinking "Okay, so there are some girly frogs, who cares?" - - Allow me to explain. For starters, amphibian levels are tanking, and that disrupts the entire food chain (which, despite our distance from our food sources, we are still a part of). Not startling enough for you? How about this: toads and humans have the same sex hormones and very similar endocrine systems. If we're only just figuring out that hormone disrupting agricultural chemicals are having profound effects on toad reproductive systems, what more subtle effects are they having on us?
Photo by Doug Greenberg.
Are you ready for World Population Day?
I don't believe that it's the rising worldwide population that is leading to the environmental problems we are facing today. While I have to acknowledge that population growth plays a small role in it, I believe that most environmental degradation comes from the behavior of that population. Especially concerning is the behavior of the few developed countries that contribute much more to global degradation than the less developed ones.
Having that in mind, I can appreciate the United Nations- sponsored World Population Day coming up tomorrow, July 11. According to the UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund:
"This year's World Population Day reaffirms the right of people to plan their families. It encourages activities, events and information that will help make this right real - especially for those who often have the hardest time getting the information and services they need to plan their families, such as marginalized populations and young people.When people can plan their families, they can plan their lives. They can plan to beat poverty. They can plan on healthier mothers and children. They can plan to gain equality for women. "
There are many reasons why family planning is important: It could save women's lives and help them participate in the labor force, as well as give them the opportunity to choose when and how they want to establish their family.
To read some of the environmental implications of the lack of family planning, read this. If you are interested in doing something in your community, the UN web site offers some good suggestions.
White House policy: Don't like it? Delete it.
A former EPA adviser alleges that Vice President Dick Cheney's office pressured the agency to delete nearly half of their testimony on the public health effects of climate change.
President Bush took responsibility for the deletion when it made headlines in October, claiming that there wasn't the science to back up the EPA's claims. Now Jason K. Burnett says that in fact it was Cheney's office that called for the deletions, because the Vice President worried that the testimony would "make it harder to avoid regulating greenhouse gases."
Wouldn't it be nice if we could control our own lives the way the administration apparently controls science? If you got a bad grade in a class, you could just delete it from your transcript. Bad review from your employer? Couple of clicks and it's gone!
But not only is that not possible for the rest of us -- most of us wouldn't do it anyway, because it's dishonest. And that's nothing compared to manipulating science because it isn't good for your business interests. That's absolutely shameful.
Photo by Down the Waterfall.
An open letter to the advertising industry
Dear Advertisers,
When he spoke at your annual international conference in Cannes a year ago, Al Gore asked you to use your powers for good instead of evil. By emphasizing the environment, he said, advertisers could put pressure on consumers and businesses to make better choices and slow the tide of global warming.
I've got another request for you now: Give us a break already!
We're tired, guys. Really, just exhausted from the sheer weight of all the "green" that's been heaped on us in the last 18 months. I'm pretty sure ol' Al didn't mean that you should use that handy environmental message to market everything from Sun Chips to Dow Chemical. (Seriously? "The Human Element" my left foot.)
Look, it's not that we fault you for doing your job. We understand: for 18 months, the environment was hot. In fact, it was downright sexy, and in that time "green" became the new sex appeal -- nearly ubiquitous in advertising, even when completely irrelevant to the product in question. There was big money in "green." But, as some of your more cutting-edge colleagues have figured out, we're wising up to your tricks. Meanwhile, the environment? It's getting hotter. But not in the way you want it to.
Listen. There are some really innovative people out there, creating and redesigning and otherwise coming up with really innovative products and projects that really, honestly, genuinely could make a difference in the way we live our lives. But all your "green" marketing (coughgreenwashingcough) now amounts to nothing more than message pollution.
We're suffering from some serious green fatigue. We're skeptical. We're not buying it! And that, my friends, is the end of the line in your industry.
Hugs and kisses,
Amanda
Image by Net_Efekt for Oxfam UK. He's got a whole series -- this one's my favorite.
A tale of poison, deceit and heroism
I was going to go for the obvious today and tell you why fireworks are bad for the environment. But you already know that, right? It's a story that involves our old nemesis, perchlorate, and people who would dare to ask for an environmental assessment of year-round fireworks at a marine life park.
But I was stopped short by Susan Sward's story in Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle, a gripping tale of how a California woman battled the chemical company that was poisoning her High Desert town. Read it here, and catch Part 2 on Monday.
For reasons we're all too familiar with, this kind of investigative story is becoming the exception, rather than the norm, in the U.S. newspaper business, as publishers keep slashing staff and news space in what seems to be a never-ending spiral. (Sward's story appeared the same week the LA Times announced it was cutting 150 people from the newsroom.) For a newspaper-phile like myself, almost as interesting as Sward's story was the note about how she got it:
ABOUT THE SERIESRita Smith first called The Chronicle wanting to tell her story in 2002. She told an editorial assistant who answered the phone that her husband, a former chemical plant worker, was very sick after working at a plant in the San Bernardino County town of Trona in the Mojave Desert. She said thousands of birds had died near the plant - then named IMC Chemicals Inc. The details were sketchy.
The notes taken by the editorial assistant were passed on to Chronicle reporter Susan Sward. Over the next few years, Sward listened to Smith tell bits and pieces of her story over the phone, and more than a year ago, Sward began pursuing the story.
During her investigation, Sward interviewed more than 100 people - plant supervisors, former and current plant workers, some of their families, regulators, scientists, professors and Trona residents. She traveled twice to Trona. She asked the company dozens of questions about its operations. The company, now named Searles Valley Minerals, responded with hundreds of pages of detailed answers.
Good for Susan Sward. Good for the Chronicle. And good for Rita Smith.
Public funds for public transit
This post is by EWG's stellar media intern, Sameem.
The buzz on gas prices has people rethinking the way they travel. USA Today recently reported record breaking public transit ridership based on a study by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). For the months of January through March 2008 ridership increased 10% when compared to the same months in 2007. And while many riders are making the switch due to rising fuel prices, many of them stick to public transit for its “service and convenience," according to Linda Robson of Seattle's Sound Transit. For riders fortunate enough to live and work near major bus and rail lines, the shift makes a lot of sense.
But how many people really have this good fortune? According to the 2006 US census, only about 1 in 5 households. The logical solution: Make bus and rail lines more extensive. The bleak reality: No one wants to pay for it.
Most transit systems are already aging and underfunded. A recent study by the Brookings Institution reported that "45 percent of the nation's subway cars were over 20 years old." The report also noted that of this 45%, half are at least 25 years old – the age at which the Federal Transit Administration recommends replacement. The percentage of rail stations in good condition has fallen from 61% in 1995 to 35% in 2004. It’s evident that the transit system was in dire need of reworking even before these record breaking ridership numbers.
So where does the money come from? At the moment, most transit projects are state and locally funded, with some federal money. The Brookings report also noted that the federal government will generally match state and local funds up to 80-90% for highway projects, but only up to 50-60% for transit projects. Under current policy, it’s clear that spending on public transit takes a backseat. But with the recent increases ridership, it’s time policy makers rethink their spending habits.
APTA is hopeful that an increased investment in transit systems will lead to a reduction on CO2 emissions. According to an APTA report, public transit could potentially reduce CO2 emissions by 37 million tons annually. Currently, they estimate that 55% of household CO2 emissions are a result of privately owned vehicles. With policy and planning reform, this number could be reduced by 30%.
With all that said, I love driving. It’s fun, convenient, and sometimes very necessary. But, given the option, I’d rather have access to a walkable community with easy public transport for my day-to-day activities, and leave driving as a leisurely and/or occasional activity. At the end of the day, it’s important for people to have a wide array of affordable, clean, convenient and energy efficient options for transportation. Federal spending should reflect the changing needs and demands of its population.
Photo by Jorg Etilico.
Grocery gap? What grocery gap?
As a Seattle native I regularly browse my hometown papers, and last week I stumbled onto a story about a new supermarket opening up just a mile or so from my boyhood home. The idea that a news article about a new Safeway would pique my interest may seem a little strange, but in light of the dwindling number of grocery stores in the inner-cities of America, this article caught my eye.
Things in Bellevue, WA have changed a bit since I left for college 18 years ago, but not for the worse. These days those lucky enough to live and work on the Eastside of Lake Washington across from Seattle are awash in choices for restaurants, high-end clothing stores, cafés, theatres, and of course local supermarkets.
"Up to 40 percent of the produce is organic, the pharmacy in the back is outfitted with cherry wood and looks like a doctor's office and the wine cellar is temperature controlled, encased in glass and features bottles that cost up to $550. Safeway operates about 1,750 stores nationwide and just four have wine cellars.To show off the new digs and lure in the public, Safeway will offer free food samples from 21 departments through Sunday. A baby grand piano has been set up near the cash registers to play live music through Sunday, too.
Among other upscale features, the seafood bar has doubled in size and features whole octopus, shark steaks and Chilean sea bass. As a promotion, king crab legs will be on sale for $10 per pound and Safeway has brought in a chef from Chateau Ste. Michelle to prepare crab leg samples."
I HAVE to check this place out. From my count, since the opening of Safeway's new "Elite" store, the good people of Bellevue (including its most famous resident and the world's richest person, Bill Gates) will have a plethora of grocery choices within a short distance from their homes and offices. Competing with the city's two Safeways for business include two Whole Foods, one QFC, one Thriftway, and of course life just isn't the same without a Trader Joe's near by (for those great deals on a case of Pinot or a huge block of brie).
Meanwhile, access to fresh, healthy foods is becoming unavailable for millions of low-income, mostly African-American and Hispanic families in the inner cities of the same country where others stroll the sushi aisles and wine cellars while listening to Mozart. Grocery stores carrying healthy fruits, vegetables, and other staples of a healthy diet are disappearing, forcing many who live in these communities to either travel longer distances to stock their refrigerators with these essential items, or serve their families fast food.
"In one corner of southeast Queens, four supermarkets have closed in the last two years. Over a similar period in East Harlem, six small supermarkets have closed, and two more are on the brink, local officials said. In some cases, the old storefronts have been converted to drug stores that stand to make money coming and going -- first selling processed foods and sodas, then selling medicines for illnesses that could have been prevented by a better diet.Many people in low-income neighborhoods are spending their food budget at discount stores or pharmacies where there is no fresh produce," said Amanda Burden, the city's planning director. "In our study, a significant percentage of them reported that in the day before our survey, they had not eaten fresh fruit or vegetables. Not one. That really is a health crisis in the city."
Childhood obesity and heart disease may have leveled off in some populations in the US, but that's not the case for African-American and Hispanic populations where these diet-related diseases are on the rise. And, sadly, it's the young people of these communities that will pay a price as they enter adulthood already facing a lifetime of serious health problems as the "Grocery Gap" continues to widen.
One organization helping bring an end to these and other serious systemic problems in these communities across the country is the Prevention Institute. Their ENACT tool helps communities establish better nutrition and higher activity levels through a series of goal-oriented projects.
Mixed Greens 013: Don't get burned!
Does your sunscreen work? Probably says so on the bottle, but don't be so sure. In this edition of Mixed Greens, we break down how to choose a better sunscreen based on EWG's updated 2008 sunscreen report. Plus, we reveal the brand-leading company without a single recommended product.
Mixed Greens is EWG's environmental health podcast. You can subscribe in iTunes or in a reader, or listen right here in your browser. Check out previous episodes for more Mixed Greens goodness!
Links for Mixed Greens 013
How to choose a better sunscreen
4 out of 5.
That's how many sunscreens failed EWG's examination this summer season. Seriously -- 4. Out of every 5. That's WAY too many.
I mean, I guess it could be because we set the standards so high. We actually expected sunscreens to be safe and effective. Silly us!
Our researchers investigated nearly 1000 products, from brand leaders like Coppertone and Neutrogena, to small-scale producers making specialty products. The results were disheartening, to say the least, but we did manage to fine more than 140 products we're willing to recommend. They tend to have a few things in common:
- The active ingredient is at least 7% zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, not oxybenzone or benzophenone-3.
- They don't contain bug repellent. Ingredients in sunscreen can make more of the pesticide absorb into the skin.
- They're not spray-on or powder, because those forms are too easy to inhale, and you don't want that.
- They don't come from market leaders Coppertone, Neutrogena, or Banana Boat. Fewer than 5% of their more than 100 products were recommended.
So, before you head out to the beach this holiday weekend, use EWG's updated sunscreen guide to choose something better. Looking for something you can pick up at your local drug store? Use our national brand recommendations -- or take along our handy one-page buying guide. And don't forget to apply liberally and frequently.
We've been waiting 30 years for FDA to produce mandatory, comprehensive sunscreen standards. Late last summer they proposed rules for UVA protection, but they still haven't even finalized that! What's the hold up, FDA?
Photo by amuderick.