Action alert: Ask congress to ban PBTs

We've been talking about TSCA a lot around here -- it's the reform of Toxic Substances Control Act that will soon begin wending its way through the congressional process in Washington DC. It's important because it will update a 1976 law that oversees what chemicals can legally be used by manufacturers -- and what chemicals we encounter in our everyday lives.

One family of chemicals under consideration is PBTs -- Persistent, Bioaccumulative Toxins. These chemicals include lead, mercury, the compound used to make Teflon and some flame retardants.

PBTs are uniquely dangerous because they pose a triple threat. They persist in the environment for long periods of time and can be transported long distances; they accumulate in living organisms and increase in concentration as they move up the food chain; and, they are highly toxic, often at very low levels of exposure.

We are deeply concerned about PBTs, and believe strongly that the phaseout of nonessential PBTs must be a critical piece of TSCA reform.

This week, 156 signatories representing 22 states and including seven state coalitions signed a letter to congress underlining the importance of phasing out nonessential PBTs.

From the letter:

"We have experienced first hand in our communities the devastating impacts PBTs can have on wildlife and people. For example:

• In the Northwest, Puget Sound’s declining orca whales have become one of the most contaminated populations of marine mammals in the world, in part because of PCBs found in the Puget Sound food chain. PCBs are known endocrine disruptors and probable carcinogens that become highly concentrated in the fatty tissues of top predators. PCBs are the only chemical banned under the original TSCA, yet more than 30 years later they continue to pollute the environment.

• In the Great Lakes, the levels of PBDEs in walleye and lake trout rose exponentially from 1980 to 2000, doubling every 3-4 years. Similarly, PBDEs in Great Lakes region herring gull eggs increased 60-fold between 1981 and 2000.

• In Maine, which is downwind from all the other states, common loons have the highest levels of mercury in the country and the eggs of peregrine falcons have among the highest levels of the decaBDE flame retardant ever recorded.

A growing body of scientific evidence links PBT chemicals to a wide range of serious human health problems, including early onset of puberty, infertility, endocrine disruption, learning disabilities, behavioral disorders and certain cancers."

Please join these signatories by writing to your member of congress and asking them to remove nonessential PBTs from our lives.

Related:

Letter to Congress by 156 signatories (PDF)
America's most wanted toxic chemicals: PBTs.
Washington mom testifies before congress.
The health case for TSCA reform.
13 states dictate principles for toxics reform.