[Pharmwaste] (2 articles from Washington state) Senate OKs phaseout of some fire retardants

[DeBiasi,Deborah]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003650446_flameretardan
t04m.html

Legislature 2007
Senate OKs phaseout of some fire retardants 

By Rachel La Corte
The Associated Press

OLYMPIA - The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a measure that
would make Washington state the first in the nation to phase out the use
of some fireproofing chemicals in televisions, computers and upholstered
furniture as long as a safer alternative exists.

The bill, which passed on a 41-8 vote, now heads to Gov. Christine
Gregoire, who is expected to sign it.

Department of Ecology Director Jay Manning said the Legislature "took a
leadership role today and said we are going to phase out a dangerous
chemical and not compromise fire safety in the process."

The measure prohibits the manufacture, sale or distribution of most
items containing polybrominated diphenyl ethers, known as PBDEs.

U.S. manufacturers voluntarily stopped making two forms of PBDEs - penta
and octa - in 2004, making deca the most commonly used form. Its largest
use is in the black plastic casings of TVs.

Some companies, like Dell, Canon and Sony, have already phased out
PBDEs. Furniture manufacturers such as IKEA also have stopped using
parts that have PBDEs.

The measure before the Legislature focused on deca, which has been
detected in people, salmon, seals and orcas.

John Kyte, a spokesman for the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum,
an industry group that opposed the bill, said in a statement that he is
calling on Gregoire to veto the measure.

Kyte said the state departments of Ecology and Health should instead
"conduct an unbiased assessment of deca and other flame retardants
before the state takes action that puts lives and the environment at
unnecessary risk."

Several Republicans voted for the measure, but others argued that the
harmfulness of deca was unknown.

"We have no reports of deaths, illnesses, injuries due to deca," said
Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside. "Yes, it may be identifiable in small
traces, due to our increased testing standards, but we still don't know
if it is [the] serious problem that it's been made out to be."

Others questioned whether fireproofing alternatives would be as
effective as deca.

"We're setting our state up for a liability issue," said Sen. Janea
Holmquist, R-Moses Lake. "I don't want Washington state and our nation
to be the first to put our citizens' lives at fire risk."

But supporters of the bill noted the endorsement by the state fire
marshal and the state associations of fire chiefs and firefighters and
said it was an important step in improving the health of the environment
and people.

"We know that these chemicals are ubiquitous, both in our bodies and our
environment," said Sen. Debbie Regala, D-Tacoma. "We've debated this for
three years. While we've debated it, the level of these toxins in our
environment and our bodies [has] doubled. This is the time."

Under the measure, mattresses with deca would be banned after Jan. 1,
2008, and the chemical would be prohibited in residential upholstered
furniture and in televisions or computers with electronic enclosures
after Jan. 1, 2011.

There would be some exemptions, including the sale of used cars made
before Jan. 1, 2008, that have parts containing PBDEs, safety systems
required by the Federal Aviation Administration, and medical devices.

The Ecology and Health departments would have to review alternatives to
deca-PBDE products, consulting with a fire-safety committee that would
include the state's director of fire protection and the executive
director of the Washington Fire Chiefs. By Dec. 15, 2008, the two
agencies would have to report to the Legislature on the availability of
alternatives to the compound.

Richard Wiles, the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based
Environmental Working Group, said in a statement that the measure's
success in Washington state "could boost similar efforts in states
across the country and set the stage for a national ban."

According to the advocacy group, several other states are considering
similar measures, including Illinois, Minnesota and California.

**********


SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/310179_pbdes04.html

Limited ban placed on flame retardants 
Substitute must be found for making objects fireproof

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

By LISA STIFFLER
P-I REPORTER

Washington became the first state in the nation Tuesday to ban the use
of chemical flame retardants in some common household items. 

With a 41-8 vote, the Senate passed a limited ban of the widely used
chemicals, which research shows can cause health problems including
neurological damage to mice pups in lab experiments. 

"It's a great victory for children's health over the scare tactics of
the (flame retardant) industry," said Laurie Valeriano, policy director
for the Washington Toxics Coalition, an environmental group. 

"I'm very excited," said Jay Manning, head of the state Department of
Ecology. "I'm very proud of the Senate and the House and very proud of
Washington for being the first in the country and the first in the world
to do this."

The chemicals -- called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs -- are
added to myriad consumer and industrial products to make them more
fireproof. They're in televisions, foam cushions, electronics and
household appliances, among other items. 

They're mixed into plastics and foams -- but they can get back out
again. They're turning up in dust in homes and offices, breast milk, and
fish, birds and other animals. 

PBDEs come in various forms. Manufacturers of the penta and octa
varieties voluntarily stopped their production in 2004 after they were
found in the environment. 

It's the ban of the deca form that has flamed the debate. 

The new law will prohibit the use of deca in mattresses beginning next
year. It will outlaw the manufacture and sale of deca-containing TVs,
computers and residential upholstered furniture in 2011 provided a
safer, technically feasible substitute is found for making the items
fireproof. 

Opponents argue that there is not yet a good alternative to deca and
that it's being found in people in concentrations too low to hurt
anyone. 

"We think it's a very real possibility that a ban of this product will
lead to an increase in fires," said John Kyte, North American program
director for the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum, an
international organization of PBDE makers.

"We don't have any reports of death or injury due to deca," Sen. Jim
Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, told the Senate on Tuesday. "We still don't know
if it's the serious problem that it's made out to be." 

State Department of Health officials agreed that the toxicity of deca
hasn't been tested in people -- but hastened to add that research on lab
animals is the standard approach for figuring out what's safe. 

"We had enough evidence that deca was a problem," said Rob Duff,
director of Health Department's Office of Environmental Health
Assessment. 

Although deca appears to stick around in people for only a couple of
weeks, the levels found in blood samples suggest to scientists that the
people tested must have been exposed "more or less continuously." 

Even more troubling is the fact that the chemical breaks down into other
forms that can last months and have more toxic effects than deca itself.


Other states also are considering banning some uses of deca and Sweden
has restricted its use in textiles, furniture and cables. 

Maine is considering a ban, and government health officials there
already have identified alternative flame retardants they consider safe
and effective for use in consumer items. 

The Washington ban does not apply to many deca uses, including in
airplanes and vehicles. The ban targets items found in the home because
the greatest exposure concerns are for infants and children. 

Those in the flame retardant industry -- while steadfastly fighting
passage of the ban -- are calling the legislation "meaningless in
practice" because of these exemptions. 

So why fight it? 

"Because we think that fundamentally it's wrong to ban this product in
any way, shape or form," said Kyte, though he simultaneously asserts
that it's not a deca ban, because it applies only to mattresses and
requires further action before being applied more broadly. 

The state Health and Ecology departments now must research a deca
substitute, which requires approval by a fire-safety committee made up
of firefighters. The case for the ban was bolstered by support from two
prominent state firefighting groups, who were concerned about exposure
to the chemicals created when items containing PBDEs were burned. 

To persuade colleagues to vote for the PBDE legislation, sponsor Ross
Hunter, a House Democrat from Medina, said he had to "get to every
member and convince them that this was not a fire-safety issue, it was a
chemical issue."





Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Office of Water Permit Programs
Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program
Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218 (NEW!)
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219
PH:         804-698-4028
FAX:      804-698-4032