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Comment from the Worldwatch Institute
Breaking News: 15
November 2001, Strasbourg, France: Despite heavy opposition from the
chemicals industry, the European Parliament supported a measure to overhaul
EU chemicals policy, marking a significant step toward reducing unnecessary
risks. The Parliament voted to replace hazardous chemicals with safer
alternatives by 2020; label consumer products containing toxic chemicals;
lower the safety threshold for human health to consider the effects of
chemicals on young and unborn children; and subject high-volume chemicals
to greater scrutiny in terms of health effects.
Detoxifying Terrorism
November 19, 2001
Comment by Anne Platt McGinn,
Worldwatch Institute
Heightened national security concerns have renewed interest
in our
vulnerabilities to toxic chemicals, a health threat that has faced
Americans for decades. In the U.S., around 850,000 industrial facilities
routinely use hazardous and extremely hazardous chemicals , according to
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, creating a plethora of health
and environmental problems even when the facilities are working
normally.
Post September 11, these facilities are potential sitting
ducks for
terrorists. Bombing any one of them could disrupt local and
national
economies, cripple public safety, and spew untold amounts of
poisonous
chemicals into the environment.
Our exposure to potential terrorist attacks on chemical
facilities is
alarming. But even without any new acts of terrorism, these
facilities
were already systematically damaging people's health and
well-being. In
1999, the latest year for which there are complete figures,
the EPA
reports that U.S. industrial facilities released 7.7 billion pounds
of
toxic chemicals during production and disposal into the air and water.
And this total is far from complete: Only large
manufacturers are
required to report; the current list of 650 chemicals
does not cover all
toxic chemicals or sources; and releases during routine
use are not
included. Moreover, many of these compounds interfere with the
normal
biological functioning of species in ways we have only begun to
identify, let alone fully comprehend. We have no basic health and
environmental data for 71 percent of the most widely used chemicals in
the United States today.
In addition, every year, thousands of workers die in
industrial
accidents caused by toxics. Between 1987 and 1996, more than
2,500
people were killed each year in chemical accidents at industrial
plants
or during transport, according to the U.S. Chemical Health and
Safety
Investigation Board.
In the aftermath of September 11, many of these chemical
facilities are
now under heightened security, as are the nation's
transportation
systems, military sites, and government properties. Better
security is
necessary, but in the long-term, our strategy should be to
minimize our
use of toxic chemicals altogether, and the sooner the better.
Innovative companies, business leaders, and public
authorities worldwide
have proven that many toxic chemicals are simply
unnecessary, and that
phasing them out with safer substitutes or with
redesigned industrial
processes saves money, is healthier for workers and
the public, and
reduces potential domestic targets.
Companies from IBM to Motorola have significantly reduced
their use of
chlorinated solvents in cleaning operations, turning to
water-based
washes instead. Toy manufacturers have phased out PVC plastic,
to
protect children from absorbing harmful chemical additives known as
phthalates. The American Hospital Association has pledged to eliminate
all mercury-containing wastes by 2005. Burning these wastes releases
potent toxins that damage the nervous system.
In a more systematic approach, Massachusetts passed a law in
1989
requiring manufacturers to examine their use of toxic chemicals and
prepare reports on alternatives. Although the law says nothing about
adopting these alternatives, some 80 percent of companies followed their
own advice and reduced toxic inputs by 24 percent, while increasing
production at the same time.
There is also a booming business in reducing the toxicity of
manufacturing by producing goods entirely from renewable resources,
rather than the current mix of toxic inputs. In the United States,
million tons of industrial and consumer materials-including paints,
plastics, and detergents-are now produced from crops, rather than
chemicals. Bio-based products now account for more than 30 percent of
the U.S. market in adhesives, surface cleaning agents, and additives in
plastics. Last year, Dow Chemical and Cargill (an international food
and agricultural company) broke ground on the world's first
manufacturing facility that will make plastic from corn sugar, rather
than petroleum.
Since September 11, there have been many suggestions about
how to make
the country less vulnerable to terrorism. At the very least,
funding
the research and development of safer alternatives and cleaner
manufacturing processes should be an integral part of any plan to reduce
our vulnerability to terrorism.
-end-
Anne Platt McGinn is a Senior Researcher at the Worldwatch
Institute, a
Washington DC-based environmental research organization. She
is the
author of Worldwatch Paper 153, Why Poison Ourselves? A
Precautionary
Approach to Hazardous Chemicals.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Niki Clark,
Communications, Tel: 202-452-1992 ext. 517; Email:
nclark@worldwtch.org
Anne Platt McGinn, Senior Researcher; Tel: 401-861-8031; Email:
amcginn@worldwatch.org
OTHER WORLDWATCH PAPERS by Anne Platt McGinn:
Worldwatch
Paper #145, Safeguarding the Health of Oceans
Worldwatch Paper #142,
Rocking the Boat: Conserving Fisheries and
Protecting Jobs
Worldwatch
Paper #129, Infecting Ourselves: How Environmental and Social
Disruptions
Trigger Disease.
For copies of these Worldwatch Papers, visit the Worldwatch
web site at:
www.worldwatch.org |
