Pennsylvania ewaste recycling law takes effect

Improper ewaste recycling leads to the contamination of air, soil, and even the materials supply chain.

...A Pennsylvania law that takes effect today is expected to spawn many more drop-off sites for electronic waste — dubbed "e-waste" — and make sure that TV and computer makers who sell those devices in the state adopt plans to recycle as much as they sell.

"The end result is that by January 2013, these items will not be going into landfills anymore," said John Repetz, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The agency is charged with enforcing the "Covered Devices Recycling Act," signed Nov. 23 by then-Gov. Ed Rendell. Pennsylvania joins 23 other states that have adopted similar laws to ensure the proper disposal of e-waste that contains hazardous materials.

For example, a typical TV or computer monitor contains 5 to 7 pounds of lead. Lead is known to cause brain damage in children and cancer. Mercury, which can cause birth defects, is found in batteries and liquid crystal display (LCD) screens. Monitors and other computer equipment contain carcinogens, such as cadmium and beryllium.

About 2 percent of the material dumped in Pennsylvania landfills is e-waste, said Steve Stroman, policy director of PennFuture, an environmental group in Harrisburg. But 50 percent to 60 percent of the toxic materials going into landfills comes from e-waste.

Equally worrisome is that instead of being properly recycled, TVs and computers sometimes get exported to developing countries where workers are exposed to toxic chemicals from trying to extract precious metals from the devices, said Stroman, who helped push for the e-waste law...

Come January 2012, retailers in Pennsylvania will be prohibited from selling any TV or computer whose manufacturer has not put a recycling plan in place. The law requires manufacturers that want to sell in Pennsylvania to develop plans by then to recycle those devices, either through retailers, home pick-up, mail-in or municipal or community-group collections...

..."Recycling is going to be a growth industry that will create hundreds of jobs in Pennsylvania," Eldridge said. He expects eLoop to create 60 to 70 jobs in the next five years...

Read the full article at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review



New York State: 85 chemicals to avoid

Source: ny.govThis is a great initiative, but it will be interesting to see if state agencies can "avoid" cadmium and lead (and others) which are ubiquitious in computers and other electronics.

When someone with $8 billion a year in purchasing power tells the world what they don’t want, marketers and manufacturers pay attention.

That’s what’s happened recently in New York, where state agencies operate 16,000 facilities and a fleet of 17,000 vehicles and generate more than 800,000 tons of waste a year. Those agencies are now working with an official policy that urges them, for the sake of public health, to avoid products, equipment and other items containing any of 85 toxic chemicals whenever safer, cost-effective alternatives are available. The goal is to minimize New Yorkers’ exposure to these chemicals as much as possible and prevent them from ending up in the state’s landfills.

The unprecedented step is a victory first and foremost for the people of the New York, but potentially also for other states that may be inspired to follow the Empire State’s example. If they do, New York’s “Chemical Avoidance List” gives them a huge head start in developing their own policies.

Two days before the end of 2010, the Interagency Committee on Sustainability and Green Procurement approved the policy directing all state agencies to consider avoiding the 85 toxic chemicals. The list consists of known and probable human carcinogens identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Toxicology Program as well as substances that accumulate in the human body and don’t readily break down in the environment. They are known as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals, or PBTs for short....

Read the full story by Olga Naidenko at EWG.org

List of Chemicals for Consideration in Green Procurement

Low VOC paints from the Daily Green

See the slide show of low VOC paints at The Daily Green

Protests over German Dioxin scandal

Source: flickr/Ivy Dawned

Thousands of German protesters marched in Berlin on Saturday to demand a change in farming methods and vent their anger at a food scandal in which cancer-causing dioxin was found in some eggs, poultry and pork...

...On Friday, German authorities investigating the food scandal said they had traced the source of the dioxin to used chip fat which had undergone industrial processing.

Read the full article by Annika Breidthardt at Reuters.com

Cell phones and radiation

...Cell phones emit non- ionizing radiation similar to microwaves. Ionizing radiation, found in X-rays and gamma rays, is known to increase cancer risk, but it's not clear whether non-ionizing radiation has a similar effect."The fact is that cell phones are two-way microwave radios and most people do not know that," said Devra Davis, author of "Disconnect: The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family." "If they really understood it, though, I think fewer people would walk around with phones plastered to their heads."...

Read the full atticle by Shari Rudavsky at Indystar.com

Read the Environmental Working Group's report on cell phone safety

Look up your cell phone with EWG's radiation guide

Environmental risks of nanoparticles unknown

Source: nasaimages.org

Nanoparticles like many other commonly used chemical and materials make our products stronger, better, and more effective. However, also like many commony used materials, little is know about their effect on human health and the environment.

...Manufactured silver nanoparticles, for example, are used in socks to combat bacteria and fungi. Nanoparticles can be used to carry antibodies, drugs or other substances to parts of the body, according to the National Cancer Institute. Contaminants in soil and groundwater can be removed by iron nanoparticles.

But scientists are just beginning to learn about the health and environmental risks of nanoparticles, and studies are planned by experts in New Jersey and elsewhere, a leading expert said. And the federal government is still developing regulations to control nanoparticles.

"The problem is that all this stuff's already out there," said Paul Lioy of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute in Piscataway.

Not much is known about what people are exposed to and what happens when nanoparticles get into one's system, according to Lioy, director of the Exposure Measurement and Assessment Division at the institute. And researchers are only beginning to understand what happens to nanoparticles when they get into the environment after people use them, he said...

Read the full article by Todd B Bates at APP.com 

USDA Lowers Bar for New 'Biobased' Product Label

 Photo: USDAgov, Flickr

...When it comes to certifying lip balms, household cleaners or any other product as "USDA certified biobased," the agency will mandate that only 25 percent of the item derive from renewable materials. The agency, in its initial proposals, had set that threshold at 51 percent, but nearly unified industrial opposition saw the agency lower its standards...

Read the full article by By PAUL VOOSEN of Greenwire in the New York Times

We Need a Smart, Agile and Innovative Environmental Police Force

The Earth Institute

...The last time I looked, no one -- conservative or liberal -- wanted to poison their children. No one favors toxics in the land, air or water any more than anyone favors theft or murder. When the police in New York City adopted more high tech and sophisticated policing techniques and rigorous performance metrics, crime went down at a faster rate than it did in many other places. We need to apply that same approach to our efforts to manage and police environmental quality. We need a smart, agile and innovative environmental police force.

Read the full editorial by Steven Cohen at the Huffington Post

Follow Steven Cohen and the Earth Institute on Twitter

See more about the Earth Institute

Chemicals of Concern

Source: flickr.com/photos/danisabella/3986339716/

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics's list of the top ingredients and contaminants to avoid that evidence suggests are associated with long-term health concerns like cancer and reproductive problems.

Triclosan

Synthetic Musks

Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde-Releasing Preservatives

Nitrosamines

Lead and Other Heavy Metals

Parabens

Phthalates

Hydroquinone

1,4-dioxane

To learn more about the 10,500 other ingredients used in personal care products visit The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Your Body, Your Health

To read more about Chemicals of cosncern at the The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics's website

Learn more about the science of cosmetics at the Campaign for Safe Cosmetic's website

Also visit EWG's Skin Deep database of cosmetic products and ingredients.

The story of cosmetics

storyofstuff.com

Annie Leonard's great video The Story of Cosmetics shows how pervasive toxins are in our health and beauty products.

See Annie's other stories at The Story of Stuff Project

Find out more about safe cosmetic choices at EWG's Cosmetic Safety Database