Why are we not protected from the pollution from everyday consumer products?
Cosmetics, tile cleaners, insect repellants, shampoos, laundry
detergents and prescription drugs are just some of the everyday products
containing harmful endocrine-disrupting substances (EDS) that can
seriously damage our health. The red flags currently being raised
about these EDSs ending up in our water couldn't have come sooner.
We have learned from harrowing stories in the past that exposure to
incredibly small amounts of EDSs, such as Thalidomide and the synthetic
estrogen diethylstilbestrol, and the timing of the exposure, can cause
dramatic birth defects. Developing fetuses are a vulnerable
population needing our protection.
It's clear that governments and academia need to set clear priorities for
research and put more resources into examining and understanding this
issue. Unfortunately, the Harper Government's new Science and
Technology Strategy is going in the opposite direction as it hints at
privatizing its government research labs.
And in Ontario, the government needs to listen to the Environmental
Commissioner Gord Miller's advice and support research into water
treatment technologies to remove these substances from our water.
Last year, the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP)
published "There is No AWAY," a major report on EDSs in our
water (available at www.cielap.org) that includes recommendations to
governments for handling this problem, specifically, creating policy that
would prevent these pollutants from getting into our water in the first
place. And when we don't have enough hard proof, precaution and
prevention ought to be the course of action.
We highlight a number of actions governments can take to curb EDS
pollution. They can initiate public and consumer education programs;
establish municipal by-laws about avoiding home pesticide use and not
discarding drugs down toilets and sewers; develop product standards; and
restrict manufacturers from using some substances, or at least limiting
the amounts they use.
Consumers also need a better system to be able to identify safer personal
care and cleaning products. We need our government to initiate a
system for mandatory labeling that allows and promotes consumer choice.
It's absurd that consumers have no reliable way to tell whether the soaps,
deodorants, and cleaners they buy - to put on their skin and use in their
homes - contain potentially harmful substances.
In the long-term, however, people's safety shouldn't be left to consumer
choice. As we learn more about EDSs and the risks they present to
human health, problem ingredients should be banned.
We must act now to educate citizens and provide them with the tools they
need to make informed decisions for their health and the health of their
environments. A labeling program, which would let consumers better
understand and choose the chemicals they consume, would be a good start.
Anne Mitchell
Executive Director
Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP)
-30-
Media Contact:
Carolyn Webb, CIELAP, 416-923-3529 ext 26., cielap@cielap.org
Founded in 1970, the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and
Policy (CIELAP) is an independent environmental law and policy research
and education organization.
www.cielap.org
