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Tackling Toxics: The “Six Classes” Approach Towards Healthier Products, People, & Planet
Arlene Blum PhD
Visiting Scholar in Chemistry, UC Berkeley
www.GreenSciencePolicy.org
A Planetary Boundary for Chemical Pollution Evidence of widespread harmChemical pollution is global:
• Rapidly increasing global production
• Persistence and long range transport
• Finite capacity of the earth to absorb toxics
Demands a globally coordinated response
Diamond et al, 2015, Environment International
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEwww.GreenSciencePolicy.org
Transition to the Green economy
6-7 SeptemberBratislava
• To achieve a green & circular economy, we should avoid the use of hazardous substances
• Products containing harmful chemicals cannot be reused or recycled and must be land filled or destroyed removing them from circular economy
3
U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (1976)
• 62,000 previous chemicals “grandfathered”
• 20,000 new chemicals
– 85% have no health data
– 67% have no data at all
Michael Wilson, Green Chemistry in California: http://coeh.berkeley.edu/news/06_wilson_policy.htm
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEGreenSciencePolicy.org
ProblemHuman Toxicological Trial?
“We are conducting a massive clinical toxicological trial, and our children and our children's children are the experimental subjects.”
-Herbert Needleman & Philip Landrigan
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEwww.GreenSciencePolicy.org Green Chemistry: Cornerstone to a Sustainable California 2008: Cal/EPA
Regrettable Substitution
Decabromodiphenyl ethane
O
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Decabromodiphenyl ether
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Decabromodiphenyl ethane
Concerns:• Persistence• Bioaccumulation• Toxicity
Concerns:• Persistence• Bioaccumulation• Toxicity
One definition of insanity: "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"
The Six Classes
5. Organic solvents benzene, methylene chloride, xylene, etc.
6. Certain metals lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium, arsenic, etc.
4. Bisphenols and phthalates phthalates, BPA, BPS, etc.
1. Highly fluorinated chemicals (PFASs) stain and water repellants
2. Chlorinated antimicrobials triclosan and triclocarban
3. Flame retardantsbrominated, chlorinated, phosphate
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEwww.GreenSciencePolicy.org
Is it necessary?
Is it worth it?
Is there a safer alternative?
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEwww.GreenSciencePolicy.org
The Six Classes Challenge
Can the use of the Six Classes in consumer products be
reduced by 50% in five years?
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEwww.GreenSciencePolicy.org
SixClasses.org
15-minute webinars on Six Classes
containing chemicals of concern
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEGreenSciencePolicy.orgGREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEwww.GreenSciencePolicy.org
Material Buyer’s Club
• Require transparency from manufacturers
• Utilize collective purchasing power to create a demand for healthy products and materials
Class 1: Highly Fluorinated Chemicals (PFAS)
Carbon-Fluorine bond strength:• Leads to oil and water repellency • Lasts for geologic time!
Adapted from slide by Dr. Jennifer Field
(C8)
PFAS Exposure is a health concern
16
Detectable serum PFASs in US
Non-detect
Exposure linked to health risks:
Kidney and testicular cancer, elevated cholesterol, obesity, immune
suppression, and endocrine disruption
(Ref: Lewis et al., 2015; Grandjean et al., 2012;
Braun et al., 2016; Barry et al., 2013)Courtesy, Cindy Hu, Harvard University
Signed by 230 scientists from 40 countries
May 2015 Madrid Statement on Highly Fluorinated Chemicals
“We call on the international community to cooperate in limiting the production and use of PFASs and in developing safer non-fluorinated alternatives.”
flickr @ Marc
2015: Environmental Health Perspectives
PFASs have been detected worldwide in surface water, wastewater, groundwater, drinking water, and landfill leachates.
PFAS MRL (ng/L) Occurrence (%) Max (ng/L)C7 10 0.66 82 (NY, DE, PA)C8 20 0.96 349 (PA)C9 20 0.05 55.8 (NJ, PA)
PFBS 90 0.03 150 (CO, PA, AL)PFHxS 30 0.61 680 (DE, PA, CO)PFOS 40 0.81 1,800 (DE, CO, PA)
To date: 22,942 samples from 3,605 PWSsPFAS detects: 351 samples (1.5%) from 132 PWSs (3.7%)Of samples with PFAS detects: 22.8% derived from surface wate
Slide courtesy Andy Lindstrom USEPA
UCMR3 requires monitoring for six PFASs in US drinking water. Monitoring began in 2013, and latest data release was January 2015.
Data from U.S. EPA’ s third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring
Rule01. 02. 2013 – 12. 09. 2015
4864 public water systems
36149 drinking water samples
Six PFASs (PFBS, PFHxS, PFHpA, PFOA, PFOS, PFNA)
From Cindy Hu et al, 2015
EPA Drinking Water Health Advisory Levels
January 2009: Provisional level of 400 ppt for PFOA and 200 pptfor PFOS
May 2016: Lifetime level of 70 ppt for PFOA and PFOS –individually or combined
Air Force to stop using AFFF foam in training exercises
• Drinking water of six million Americans contaminated with PFAS
• AFFF firefighting foams used in training are a major contributor
• Air Force, on 19 August 2016, said:– “will stop using foam in training
exercises” – “will replace all C8 foam with C6
by the end of this year”
Fluorine in U.S. fast food packaging paper(percent positive; 400 products sampled)
25
Adopted from Schaider L. 2016 Fluorinated compounds in U.S. fast food packaging.
Should these products be considered compostable?
The Teflon Toxin Goes to Court.Sharon Lerner: The Intercept
Sept 2015 3,500 personal injury and 37 wrongful
death claims against DuPont went to trial
First jury decisionsOctober 2015: $1.6 million to a woman who developed kidney cancer.
July 2016: $5 million to a man with testicular cancer.
January 5th 2017: $10.5 million for malice to another man with testicular cancer
“If the chemical were really dangerous, DuPont attorneys contend, government agencies would have regulated it. “
Class 2: Antimicrobials
TriclocarbanTriclosan
Courtesy: Dr. Gary GinsbergGREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTE
www.GreenSciencePolicy.org
5 – 10 Seconds
(ineffective)
TCS/TCC in Soap Could Work, But Don't
Why: Contact Time!
30
Lifetime exposure in
aquatic organisms
(toxic)
Source: US EPA
2 Antimicrobials
Antibiotics
Others
Antibiotics
Others
Antimicrobials
Mass of Compounds
Triclosan & Triclocarban: Key Sludge Pollutants
31
McClellan & Halden, Water Res. 44: 626-636 (2010)
Number of Compounds, N = 72
EPA Method 1694
The Florence Statement documents environmental & human health concerns
Adapted from: Halden, ES&T, 2014. 48(7):3603−3611http://GreenSciencePolicy.org/florence-statement/
U.S. Food &Drug Administration Rule (September 2016):
• Over-the-counter consumer soaps containing triclosan (liquid soaps) and triclocarban (bar soaps) can no longer be sold.
• Manufacturers did not demonstrate that the ingredients are both safe for long-term use and more effective than soap and water in preventing the spread of infections.
Class 3 Flame retardants Used to meet flammability standards
since the 1970s
• Children’s sleepwear
• Furniture
• Television enclosures
• Foam plastic building insulation
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEwww.GreenSciencePolicy.org
Technical Bulletin 117
– Required furniture foam to
withstand a small open flame
for 12 seconds
– No significant fire safety
benefit (fires start in exterior
fabric not filling)
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEGreenSciencePolicy.org
Human Health
associated withHigher pentaBDE lower birth weight
impaired attention
poorer coordination
lowered IQ
longer time to get pregnant
altered thyroid hormones
Eskenazi et al, 2010, 2011, 2012GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEGreenSciencePolicy.org
Fire Safety Benefit?
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEwww.GreenSciencePolicy.org Babrauskas et al. 2011; Talley 1995; Mehta (CPSC) 2012
~
Flame retardant treated foam
Non– treated foam
“No significant, consistent difference…”
(regarding California TB117)
San Antonio Statement on Brominated and Chlorinated Flame Retardants
• Signed by over 200 scientist's from 30 countries
• Documents health and environmental harm and lack of proven fire safety benefit
2010: Environmental Health Perspectives
42
Pulitzer PrizeFinalist
Goldsmith Prize Investigative Reporting
Environmental Journalists Society Environmental Reporting
Gerald Loeb Award Business and Financial Journalism
National Press Club Consumer Award
June 18, 2012
Governor Brown Directs State Agencies to Revise Flammability Standards
‘We must find better ways to meet fire safety standards by reducing and eliminating -wherever possible - dangerous chemicals.”
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEGreenSciencePolicy.orgGREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEwww.GreenSciencePolicy.org Press release, CA Office of Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr.
California Flammability Standard TB117-2013
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEwww.GreenSciencePolicy.org
Product Labels Required
www.bearhfti.ca.gov/about_us/sb_1019_faq.pdf
Mandatory January 1, 2015
Flame retardants not needed,
but can still be used
Plastic foam insulations (polystyrene, polyurethane, polyiso, etc.)
Used increasingly for
energy efficiency
Can be used:
• inside walls
• below grade
• attics, etc.
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEGreenSciencePolicy.org
HBCD (hexabromocyclododecane)
Polystyrene (XPS and EPS)
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEGreenSciencePolicy.org
HBCD:• Bioaccumulative• Thyroid disruption• Affects developing
nervous system• Developmental
neurotoxicity in mice• Banned in 160
countries
Covaci et al, 2006; Marvin et al, 2011; US EPA 2008
A Problem for the Circular Economy:What will happen to furniture treated with flame retardants?
Low income communities
Long term problem
(>30 years)
Resale
Landfill
Mechanical Recycling
Bonded carpet cushion
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTE www.GreenSciencePolicy.org
What Are Better Solutions?
FoamExchange
Service
EnergyRecovery?
Chemical Recycling?
More Secure Landfills?
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTEwww.GreenSciencePolicy.org
?
?
?
Class 4: Bisphenols and Phthalates
Courtesy: Dr. Miriam Diamond
Uses:• Bisphenols: plastics,
• cash register receipts, adhesives, can linings
• Phthalates: plasticizers, lubricants, solvents, emulsifiers, fragrances
http://www.susanfreinkel.com/books_Plastic.html
Class 5: Organic Solvents(aliphatic, aromatic, halogenated, oxygenated)
• Hydrocarbon solvents- Aliphatic organic solvents (petroleum-based)- Aromatic organic solvents (toluene, xylene,
benzene)
• Chlorinated solvents- E.g., Methylene chloride, perc, TCE
• Oxygenated solvents- Acetone, glycol ethers, alcohols
Courtesy: Dr. Liz Harriman
Class 6: Certain Metals(arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury etc.)
Courtesy: Dr. Graham Peaslee
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTE
greensciencepolicy.org
How can I help reduce legacy and newexposure to harmful chemicals?
GREEN SCIENCE POLICY INSTITUTE
greensciencepolicy.org
1. Responsible disposal of foam and plasticmixed with flame retardants?
2. Food contact materials without fluorinated chemicals?
3. Furniture without fluorinated chemicals, antimicrobials and flame retardants?
4. Alternative fire-fighting foams at airports without fluorinated chemicals?
Join us in Berkeley, CaliforniaFebruary 8-10, 2017
Contact: [email protected]
February 8 Responsible Disposal of Flame Retarded Foam and Plastic:
Developing the Basic Science
February 9A Sticky Situation:
Highly Fluorinated Chemicals in Food Contact Materials
February 10Reducing Toxics:
Flame Retardant Dilemma and Beyond
For monthly e-newsletters
www.greensciencepolicy.org
Sign our mailing list
Give Arlene or Sara your card
By Reducing use of Six Classes
We can have a healthier world
For more information
Google: Green Science Policywww.greensciencepolicy.org
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