It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:24 am

All times are UTC - 6 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2009 11:10 am 
Offline
Site Admin
Site Admin

Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2004 3:00 am
Posts: 516
Location: Dallas,Texas
The United Nations Environment Program has added nine new chemicals to its original list of the "dirty dozen" list of restricted or banned toxic chemicals.

The original Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants banned nine pesticides, as well as common chemicals like PCBs and dioxin. All were banned because they accumulate in the tissues of living things, including humans, because they are all but indestructible once released into the natural world, and because they can spread across the globe with weather patterns and migrating animals. Not to mention that they have been linked to a range of health issues, including cancer and reproductive and developmental problems.

DDT, the pesticide that helped launch the U.S. environmental movement when Rachel Carson criticized its toxicity in Silent Spring, will also have its exemption revoked, effecting a worldwide ban by 2020. The highly toxic chemical had been in continued use, despite its listing among the Dirty Dozen, because it was effective in the prevention of malaria in third world nations. Alternative are now prevalent enough to manage without it, the U.N. decided.

The new candidates are used in consumer products, such as flame retardants in textiles and carpets, in fire-fighting foam, and in photo imaging.

Here's a look at the new candidates:

The Nasty Nine

1. Pentabromodiphenyl ether
This PBDE congener, sometimes referred to as "penta," was used as a flame-retardant in foam upholstery and furnishing. It was first banned in Germany, Norway and Sweden in the 1980s and 1990s, then in the Europe Union in 2003. The last U.S. manufacturer stopped producing the chemical in 2005, and the Environmental Protection Agency subsequently banned its production in the U.S. It is still manufactured elsewhere, primarily in China, and can be imported to the U.S. Maine and Washington have banned it and nine other states have proposed bans.

The chemical may cause a range of health problems, including liver disease and reproductive and developmental problems. It has been found in human breast milk.

2. Octabromodiphenyl ether
Like its sister "penta" this polybrominated diphenyl ether, or PBDE, has been linked to health issues and has largely been phased out in developed nations.

3. Chlordecone
This insecticide, also known as Kepone, was used until 1978 in the United States on tobacco, ornamental shrubs, bananas and citrus trees, and in ant and roach traps. It is chemically almost identical to Mirex, which was one of the original "Dirty Dozen" banned by the treaty.

Workers using chlordecone suffered damage to the nervous system, skin, liver and male reproductive system. It may still be in use in developing nations, despite its being banned in the industrialized world.

4. Lindane
An agricultural insecticide also used to treat head lice and scabies in people, lindane has been banned in 50 nations because the organochlorine pesticide can attack the nervous system. In the United States, it was used until 2007 on farms, and it is still used as a "second-line" treatment for head lice when other treatments fail.

Additionally, because Lindane is the only useful product in a family of chemicals generated to produce the pesticide, there is persistent chemical waste created by the process. For every ton of Lindane produced, six to 10 tons of waste are produced.

5. Alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane
One of the persistent chemical waste products produced by making Lindane, alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane may cause cancer and liver or kidney problems.

6. Beta-hexachlorocyclohexane
Another of the persistent chemical waste products produced by making Lindane, beta-hexachlorocyclohexane may cause cancer and reproductive problems.

7. PFOS
The company 3M used PFOS to make Scotchgard fabric and other stain-resistant products until 2002. The chemical is also used in a number of industrial processes. It is found in the bodies of people around the world, and in relatively high concentrations in Arctic wildlife — reflecting the global transport of persistent chemicals like these. Unlike the other chemicals on the "nasty nine" list, PFOS will have its use restricted, not banned.

8. Hexabromobiphenyl
A polybrominated biphenyl, or PBB, hexabromobiphenyl is a flame retardant that has been linked to a range of health problems, including weight loss, skin disorders, nervous and immune systems effects, and effects on the liver, kidneys, and thyroid gland. While it is no longer used in developed nations, it may still be in use in developing nations.

9. Pentachlorobenzene
Used in the manufacture of an insecticide, and as a flame retardant, Pentachlorobenzene may damage the nervous and reproductive systems, as well as the liver and kidneys. It is also used as a head lice treatment and can be found in the waste streams of some paper mills, petroleum refineries, sewage treatment plants and incinerators.

Source: Dan Shapley, thedailygreen 5.11.2009


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 

All times are UTC - 6 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by eWeblife