2. You will seldom find a person whose life has not been
improved by synthetic chemicals. With advances in chemistry
over the last four hundred years, we have developed life-saving
or -sustaining chemicals that have improved the
quality of life for all who have used it (penicillin comes to
mind).
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In today’s world, synthetic chemicals are everywhere, which
is somewhat problematic.
3. While few will disagree with the notion that synthetic
chemicals are extremely useful, that does not mean that some
are developed and manufactured irresponsibly. This is a trend
brought to light in a New York Times Opinion piece co-authored
by Rolf U. Halden from the Center for Environmental
Security at Arizona State and Robert S. Lawrence from the
Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins.
4. In their piece, they explain that there are 84,000
chemicals in commercial use with 500-1000 new ones
introduced annually. With oversight divided between the
FDA (for chemicals ingested or applied to skin) and the
EPA (chemicals applied to agriculture and environment),
there is no evaluation of the chemicals’ effects from
chronic exposure to small doses or the impact of waste
products (products that are discarded, but incompatible
with biodegradation).
5. An example they use to highlight this trend is that of triclosan
and triclocarban. These are organohalogens designed to kill
bacteria and are commonly added to antibacterial soaps,
cosmetics and other consumer products. However, chemicals
these have been classified as PBT (persistent, bioaccumulative
and toxic) because of their effects on the human endocrine
system and contributions to antibiotic resistance in bacteria,
creating highly immune “super bacteria” that human immune
systems have great difficulty combatting.
6. The fact that we don’t know the long-term
effect of these chemicals is troubling.
7. DDT
Some may be more familiar with another PBT, “DDT”, a
pesticide once used widely but wound up devastating wildlife
populations. Blood test from current populations show that the
DDT has persisted in their systems and the same effect could
be had by longterm exposure to triclosan or triclocarban.
9. These potentially negative effects aren’t quick to be
noticed by regulators, either: Halden and Lawrence’s
study found that it usually takes an average of 14 years
for red flags to be raised, acknowledged and acted upon.
11. #1
Make safety, health, and environmental compatibility
paramount in each stage of development process.
!
It’s also incredibly important for manufacturers to
begin accounting for the “end” of the life cycle of a
product to make sure there is a clear strategy to
prevent the product’s being left to waste.
12. #2
Regulate chemicals in groups rather than individually.
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Rather than going through a process to deem each
organohalogen chemical safe or unsafe, you can
evaluate the long term effects of many chemicals by
the number and types of carbon-halogen bonds.
13. #3
Encourage manufacturers to make products from
environmentally-responsible chemicals that will
biodegrade within a reasonable amount of time.
!
Substitutes for the harmful chemicals used at
present are financially feasible and plentiful.
14. Thanks for Reading!
For more on Scott Houghton and Chemistry,
please visit his site at
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http://scotthoughton.org
