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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2015/may/fluorinated-chemicals-madrid-statement-science-health">http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2015/may/fluorinated-chemicals-madrid-statement-science-health</a></span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
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<font size="5" color="#333333" face="inherit"><span style="font-size:17.0pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#333333">Scientists call for limits on stain- and water-proofing chemicals.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<font size="1" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333"><img border="0" width="837" height="211" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D0841B.0B140830" alt="http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/images/2015/ehn-and-tdc/may/fluorinated/DeckstainingTOP.jpg/"></span></font><font size="1" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<font size="1" color="#999999" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:6.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#999999"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakesutton/2974144997/in/photolist-8QgBsY-8QgAqy-eNq3x1-93nUdQ-8uLUHS-4RgBPw-4GCi5v-eNdzt4-pkZCx2-eNdxH8-piWWEd-8rMi5M-6rqZ48-6rr1ca-314MRD-6ktToS-319izJ-51q9Nx-8uhK69-dKRqfw-5wPh7R-9BAeUx-69WhTK-dKKVS4-cmopSU-4bZPM8-5wPhyr-rRjhLM-2zseby-2zsdJQ-9VYZKa-2zsfjY-78gVE1-cmori5-2zsamf-5FMotb-7EQhZc-2znPZn-6MT6xo-54zT5U-pkVnFV-2jyXVX-2znNwk-8n63TP-87nQMd-6YiRyn-6YnSDL-7dQfYy-9qKBE1-5wPgG2"><font color="#428bca"><span style="color:#428BCA;text-decoration:none">Jake
Sutton/flickr</span></font></a></span></font><font size="1" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<font size="1" color="#555555" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#555555">Highly fluorinated chemicals are commonly found in products like deck stain. Scientists from around the world want to limit their usage
in products amid health concerns. </span></font><font size="1" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><i><font size="5" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;font-style:italic"><br>
</span></font></i><i><font size="5" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;font-style:italic">More than 200 scientists outline potential health concerns from fluorinated chemicals, urge
replacements and tightened regulations <o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><i><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;font-style:italic"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">May 1, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">By
<a href="http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/archive?text=&start_date=&end_date=&publisher=&reporter=Brian+Bienkowski&article_type=&subject=">
<font color="#428bca"><span style="color:#428BCA;text-decoration:none">Brian Bienkowski</span></font></a><br>
Environmental Health News<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">Chemicals used to make products waterproof and stain resistant are persistent, pervasive,
potentially harmful to humans, and should be regulated and largely replaced, according a statement signed by more than 200 scientists.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">The “Madrid Statement” was authored by 14 scientists and signed by 208 more from
38 countries around the world representing a variety of scientific disciplines. The statement was issued amid growing concern that exposure to highly fluorinated chemicals — found everywhere, including in people — is linked to certain cancers, hormone disruption,
brain and liver problems and lower birth weights.<br>
<br>
“We call on the international community to cooperate in limiting the production and use of PFASs [poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances] and in developing safer non-fluorinated alternatives,” says the statement published in today’s Environmental Health Perspectives
journal.<br>
<br>
A rebuttal published by the journal from Jessica Bowman, executive director of the FluoroCouncil, a trade association representing fluorinated compound manufacturers, argues the potentially harmful compounds are no longer used and alternatives used today are
necessary for many products and safe for humans.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333"><img border="0" width="358" height="298" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D0841B.0B140830" alt="http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/images/2015/ehn-and-tdc/may/fluorinated/hikinginrain.jpg/"></span></font><font color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<font size="3" color="#999999" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#999999"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/carolynwillitts/3171002889/in/photolist-5QddFB-5QhsXw-5Qhsx5-bsTu68-aFh7bT-6yhi5V-hirndq-7JoRSZ-86yfZ8-cvY1h1-6EFQFt-4QkVP4-q3Rdkb-4Y4qZd-6NWx7T-5qrM1j-4dRMUC-j4Y8V9-5h71CU-4QkRdM-iW8s3-9rwv3P-94nTXB-5uL1zL-aF7e5A-aF7dow-aF7dD1-aFkVhL-hirp1T-gLgf8Z-bYQSkw-r6jcf1-sdNvid-8tiGwE-kJLqwX-4UQ1LZ-4UQ1Rc-pSqwsb-8CuSWG-6moxfn-aF3ora-aF7eeL-cDpazu-7wzCco-hiqBUn-h1XRuu-94WhiE-bLKacr-5V16Dq-7zaibN"><font color="#999999"><span style="color:#999999;text-decoration:none">Carolyn
Willitts/flickr</span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:12.0pt"><font size="3" color="#555555" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#555555">Fluorinated chemicals are often used in waterproof jackets and
other apparel. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">The Madrid Statement is also accompanied by an editorial from Linda Birnbaum, director
of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and Philippe Grandjean of Harvard’s School of Public Health. The two call for more research into potential health impacts of highly fluorinated compounds and alternatives.<br>
<br>
Highly fluorinated chemicals are used in products such as upholstery, waxes, non-stick cookware, food packaging and carpeting. They migrate out of products and degrade very slowly — showing up in air, household dust, water, dirt, wildlife and people.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">The scientists say governments should only allow essential uses of such compounds,
enforce labeling and do more testing on potential health concerns. In addition, they urge manufacturers to make data on the compounds public, bolster monitoring and develop alternatives.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">“When you put these in the environment, they don’t come back out,” said Graham Peaslee,
a chemist and professor at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and one of 14 of the statement’s authors. “They will only keep building up in the environment and that scares me as scientist and as a parent.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">The chemical bonds of fluorinated compounds — the fluorine-carbon bond — are among
the “strongest known,” Peaslee said. “The bonds don’t break.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">The FluoroCouncil said in a rebuttal statement that the strong bond is “critical
to the reliable and safe function of many products” such as airplanes, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and fire-fighting foam.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">There are two types of these compounds — long chain and short chain, the latter having
fewer carbons.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">Long-chain compounds, such as perfluorooctanoic acid (also PFOA) and perfluorooctane
sulfonic acid (PFOS) are more heavily studied, linger longer in the human body, and have been linked to testicular and kidney cancers, low birth weights, obesity, thyroid disease, high cholesterol and hypertension and low birth weights.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><font size="3" color="#057234" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#057234;font-weight:bold">"When you put these in the environment, they don't come back out. They will only keep building
up in the environment and that scares me as a scientist and as a parent."<i><span style="font-style:italic">-Graham Peaslee, Hope College<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><font size="3" color="#057234" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#057234;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">Most of the findings were from a large health study in Mid-Ohio Valley communities — dubbed the
<a href="http://www.c8sciencepanel.org/"><font color="#428bca"><span style="color:#428BCA;text-decoration:none">C8 Science Panel</span></font></a> — that started in 2005 in response to widespread PFOA (also known as C8) contamination in the region from the
DuPont Washington Works facility near Parkersburg, West Virginia. The massive study had 69,030 participants.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">In laboratory animal studies, long chain forms of the chemicals have disrupted immune
and endocrine systems, harmed brains and caused tumors.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">Due to these health concerns, long chain forms of the compounds have largely been
phased out. 3M, a major manufacturer of stain-resistant coatings and additives, phased-out PFOS in 2002 and PFOA in 2008.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">PFOS is regulated as a persistent organic pollutant in the European Union, and PFOA
is restricted in Norway and there's a proposal to include it and related substances under the European Union’s chemical regulation program (REACH), said Simona Balan, and co author of the statement and senior scientist with the Green Policy Institute based
in Berkeley, California.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">The U.S. EPA in January of this year
<a href="http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/actionplans/pfcs.html"><font color="#428bca"><span style="color:#428BCA;text-decoration:none">proposed requiring manufacturers</span></font></a> to let the agency know 90 days in advance if they planned
on using certain long-chain fluorinated compounds, so the agency could evaluate if the use is necessary. It is accepting public comments until mid-June.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">EPA spokeswoman Cathy Milbourn said most U.S. companies are on track to phase-out
the long chain perfluorinated chemicals by the end of 2015 and have successfully developed more than 150 alternatives.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">The FluoroCouncil statement said that if the Madrid Statement was only about long
chain compounds, the Council would mostly agree with the recommendations.</span></font><font size="1" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="1" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333"><img border="0" width="200" height="300" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D0841B.0B140830" alt="http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/images/2015/ehn-and-tdc/may/fluorinated/spotlight-birnbaum1.jpg/"></span></font><font size="1" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<font size="1" color="#999999" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:6.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#999999"><a href="https://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2011/march/spotlight-birnbaum/"><font size="1" color="#999999"><span style="font-size:5.0pt;color:#999999;text-decoration:none">NIEHS/flickr</span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:12.0pt"><font size="2" color="#555555" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#555555">Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences, wrote in an editorial that the discussion of fluorinated compound usage "cannot be resolved by science alone."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">However, Balan said little is known about short chain alternatives.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">“There’s really a lack of data on health effects for a lot of these chemicals,” Balan
said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">While the short chain chemicals don’t stay in people’s bodies as long as their long
chain counterparts, that doesn’t mean they’re harmless, she said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">“Shorter chain compounds might be eliminated faster from our body, but if they’re
used a lot, we’ll see the same problem we have with chemicals like BPA [bisphenol-A]: it’ll constantly be in us because we’re exposed constantly,” Balan said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">The FluoroCouncil argues that short-chain alternatives have undergone “rigorous review”
by multiple government agencies.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">“The published data and data submitted to regulatory authorities support the conclusion
that short-chain PFASs [per and polyfluoroalkyl substances] are not expected to be harmful to human health or the environment. Any claim that data are not available on the hazards and risks of these substances is simply incorrect,” the statement said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">DuPont spokeswoman, Janet Smith, concurred with the FluoroCouncil.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">“We do not believe the Madrid Statement reflects a true consideration of the available
data on alternatives to PFOA,” Smith said in an email. “As a result of industry efforts, data indicates that levels of PFOA and related chemicals have dropped over the last several years, both in people's blood and in the environment.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">Balan said the manufacturers don’t test for potential hormone disruption, which is
how many of the compounds could potentially impact health.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">In addition, Birnbaum and Grandjean point out that researchers raised health concerns
over the long-chain compounds for years before any action was taken.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">Peaslee said chemistry has no magic bullet to help reduce fluorinated compound use.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><font size="3" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333">“There is no one replacement. Everything has costs."</span></font><font size="1" color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333"><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Deborah L. DeBiasi</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><b><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy;font-weight:bold">Email: Deborah.DeBiasi@deq.virginia.gov</span></font></b><b><i><font size="2" color="red"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:red;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic"><br>
</span></font></i></b><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">WEB site address:
<a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/">www.deq.virginia.gov</a></span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Virginia Department of Environmental Quality</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Office of Water Permits
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx">http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx</a></span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Mail: P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Location: 629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">PH: 804-698-4028 FAX: 804-698-4032<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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