U.S. Rules Allow the Sale of Products Others Ban
Photo by Claudia Rehm/Getty Images
From the Los Angeles Times: “Chemical-laden goods outlawed in Europe and Japan are permitted in the American market.”
As the European Union and other nations have tightened their environmental standards, mostly in the last two years, manufacturers—here and around the world—are selling goods to American consumers that fail to meet other nations’ stringent laws for toxic chemicals.
Wood, toys, electronics, pesticides and cosmetics are among U.S. products that contain substances that are banned or restricted elsewhere, particularly in Europe and Japan, because they may raise the risk of cancer, alter hormones or cause reproductive or neurological damage.
Michael Wilson, a professor at UC Berkeley’s Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, said the United States is becoming a “dumping ground” for consumer goods that are unwanted and illegal in much of the world. Wilson warned earlier this year in a report commissioned by the California Legislature that “the United States has fallen behind globally in the move toward cleaner technologies.” …
One birch plank from China, bought at a Home Depot store in Portland, gave off 100 times more formaldehyde than legal in Japan and 30 times more than allowed in Europe and China, according to July tests conducted by a lab hired by an Oregon-based wood products manufacturer. Formaldehyde exposure has been shown in human studies to cause nose and throat cancer and possibly leukemia, as well as allergic reactions, asthma attacks, headaches and sore throats.
With no government standards, monitoring or labeling, U.S. consumers cannot easily identify chemical-free products. …
California may step in. The Air Resources Board is considering standards roughly equivalent to Europe’s for 2008 and Japan’s for 2010 through 2012.
The air board estimates that one of every 10,000 Californians is at risk of contracting cancer from breathing average formaldehyde levels found in homes and offices.
(Emphases are mine.)
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2. Mail Call: Toxic Wood
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KathyB said,
October 8, 2006 at 3:21 pm
That bit about the birch plank is enough to send me running screaming into the forest never to return. Assuming, of course, that my hung-over ass could actually make it out the front door.
That said, do you know any way to get funky mold out of plastic (non-porous, non-food) without busting out a big one-gallon of Clorox? Will straight-up hot hot hot water do it? I discovered this is at the bottom of a trash can (see above) that is normally layered with repurposed grocery bags for maximally easy cleanup (see above). (Yes, I know about plastic bags, but ever since I heard that flushed cat turds were sickening the uber-cute otters of Monterey Bay I’m terrified of sending those into the ecosystem and that’s the only way to contain the biohazard.)
azgoddess said,
October 9, 2006 at 12:58 pm
thanks for this…i sent the article to my son…he owns his own cabinet installation business….
dawbis said,
October 10, 2006 at 2:06 pm
i’m still pretty new to all of this. my question is what can i do about this? or what can an average person do to pursade the people in charge to get with the program? i hope this isn’t a stupid question. it probably is! *hides under a rock