[Pharmwaste] Flame retardant growing threat to killer whales

[DeBiasi,Deborah]

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=9f50f8cd-d60f-4040
-8446-52e8cbd56780

Flame retardant growing threat to killer whales
Concern raised in B.C., Washington state
  
Larry Pynn 
Vancouver Sun 


Wednesday, March 14, 2007


Levels of a toxic flame retardant are growing so quickly in coastal
marine waters they are expected to surpass PCBs as the leading
contaminant in endangered southern resident killer whales, a federal
scientist warned Tuesday.

Peter Ross of the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney near Victoria
said in an interview that research shows levels of PBDEs (polybrominated
diphenyl ethers) are steadily increasing in harbour seals in southern
Puget Sound in Washington state, with levels in seals in B.C.'s Strait
of Georgia expected to be similar.

At the current rate of increase, PBDE levels are predicted to exceed
those of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in killer whales in our shared
waters by 2020.

That will further confound recovery efforts, Ross said.

PBDEs are the latest emerging threat to a population of killer whales
that is already among the most polluted marine mammals in the world and
is officially endangered in Canada and the U.S.

Two toxic lighter forms of PBDEs, penta and octa, were voluntarily
withdrawn from the Canadian and U.S. marketplaces more than two years
ago, Ross said. Environment Canada is re-evaluating a third type, deca,
in light of research showing it can break down and resemble the two
other forms and "magnify" up the food chain.

"Washington state is also trying to get rid of all three forms," Ross
added.

Unlike PCBs, which were used largely as coolants in industrial
transformers before being banned 30 years ago, PBDEs are widely used as
flame retardants in polymer resins and plastics and found in consumer
products such as furniture, TVs, stereos, computers, carpets, and
curtains.

PBDEs find their way into the marine environment through the air or
through runoff and effluent, and are thought to pose a risk to the
endocrine system, reproductive health, the immune system, and
development.

Ross said scientists are often asked to prove the threat posed by a
chemical before it is removed, but he argued that in this case the
"cautionary principle" should apply, given the killer whales' precarious
existence.

"Any way you cut that picture, these chemicals are a perplexing
conservation threat."

PBDE levels in harbour seals in Puget Sound have increased steadily: 14
parts per billion in 1984, 281 ppb in 1990, 328 ppb in 1993, 644 ppb in
1996, and 1,057 ppb in 2003.

In comparison, PCBs levels have declined: 100,000 ppb in 1972 and 17,000
ppb by 1984.

Killer whales carry 10 times the contaminants of harbour seals, which
means an increase in PBDEs in seals is immediately cause for concern.
"They might be much more vulnerable to these impacts," Ross said.

He suggested that society use alternative fire retardants that do not
threaten both marine life and first nations who are heavy consumers of
marine life. "There is sufficient scientific evidence to raise concerns
about all three forms of PBDEs. We should be very careful about use of
any of these products."

lpynn at png.canwest.com


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