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CEHN-list by David Wallinga, MD
Copy of the report, released today, at:
http://www.coeh.ucla.edu/greenchemistry.pdf
News coverage, and press release, attached
UCLA Newsroom
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/chemical-exposures-cost-california-43152.aspx
Chemical exposures cost California an estimated $2.6 billion, research shows
Policy report endorsed by 127 University of California faculty members
By Phil Hampton and Sarah Yang
1/17/2008
Existing state laws regulating the production and use of hazardous chemicals
have serious gaps and fail to protect public health and the environment,
according to a new report released today by researchers at UCLA and the
University of California, Berkeley.
As a result of this inadequate oversight, chemical- and pollution-related
diseases among children and workers in California cost the state's insurers,
businesses and families an estimated $2.6 billion in direct and indirect
costs, says the report, which includes a set of recommended policy reforms
for the state.
In 2004, more than 200,000 California workers were diagnosed with deadly,
chronic diseases, such as cancer and emphysema, attributable to chemical
exposures in the workplace, according to the report. Another 4,400 died as a
result of those diseases. The new findings, based on well-established
methodology for analyzing economic impact, indicate that those diseases
resulted in $1.4 billion in both direct medical costs and indirect costs
that include lost wages and benefits.
An additional $1.2 billion in direct and indirect costs is attributed to
240,000 cases of preventable childhood diseases related to environmental
exposure to chemical substances, the report says.
The existing problems and recommended policy changes are detailed in the
report, "Green Chemistry: Cornerstone to a Sustainable California," which
has been endorsed by 127 faculty members from seven UC campuses, Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The California Environmental Protection Agency commissioned the Centers for
Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH) at UC Berkeley and UCLA to
prepare the report. COEH is a multidisciplinary research program based at
the UC campuses of Berkeley, Davis and San Francisco in Northern California,
and Irvine and Los Angeles in Southern California. Additional funding for
the report came from the UC Office of the President, the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
"This report, for the first time, puts cost estimates on the consequences
for Californians of current chemical and product management policies," said
COEH director Dr. John Balmes, a professor of environmental health sciences
at UC Berkeley and a professor of medicine at UCSF. "California has shown
that creating new jobs and investment opportunities can go hand in hand with
protecting human health and the environment. We have been doing this with
vehicle emissions and energy use, and this new report makes it obvious that
we will need to do the same with chemicals and products."
The report was written by Michael Wilson and Dr. Megan Schwarzman, both COEH
research scientists at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health; Timothy
Malloy, professor at the UCLA School of Law; Elinor Fanning, COEH assistant
director of research at UCLA; and Peter Sinsheimer, a COEH affiliate and
director of the Pollution Prevention Education and Research Center at
Occidental College in Los Angeles.
The report presents data from the California's Department of Toxic
Substances Control showing that 61 of the state's 85 largest hazardous waste
sites are leaking toxic material directly into groundwater. In addition, an
estimated 1 million California women of reproductive age have blood mercury
levels that exceed what the U.S. EPA considers safe for fetal development,
and biomonitoring studies have detected more than 100 synthetic chemicals
and pollutants in breast milk, umbilical-cord blood, and other bodily fluids
and tissues, the report says.
With global chemical production predicted to increase 330 percent by 2050,
health problems related to environmental contamination are likely to grow
unless comprehensive steps are taken now, the report's authors say. "Green
chemistry" - the use of renewable and safer raw materials, manufacturing
processes and products - offers a sustainable solution, according to the
report.
"Research conducted in the past decade has provided ample evidence of
significant health impacts from exposure to toxic chemicals," said John
Froines, COEH director at UCLA and a professor of environmental health
sciences. "It is timely for California to reduce the use of toxic agents
through innovative technological approaches available through green
chemistry. New policies that prevent hazards rather than cleaning up
problems after the fact will foster innovation and help green chemistry
emerge as a central part of our economy."
The report calls on California to lead the nation in implementing a
comprehensive approach to the management of chemicals and products. Policy
recommendations include:
· Passing new laws to remedy the insufficient data available on the
toxicity of chemicals so that California businesses, regulators and
consumers can make informed choices about the products they use.
· Providing California agencies with a new legal framework to enable
them to act when there are reasonable concerns about a product's safety,
even when complete hazard or tracking data are unavailable.
· Investing in the design of chemicals, materials and manufacturing
processes that are inherently safer for humans.
Some of these recommendations echo a 2006 UC report to the California
Legislature on green chemistry policy, which contributed to the introduction
of new state legislation in 2007 to require improved reporting on the sale
of high-quantity chemicals and reductions in some uses of the most toxic
chemicals. That legislation is expected to be reintroduced in 2008.
A PDF of the report is available from the the UCLA Center for Occupational
and Environmental Health at www.coeh.ucla.edu/greenchemistry.pdf
(2.14 MB).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_7993494
Chemical-related illnesses cost state
By Terence Chea The Associated Press
Article Launched: 01/16/2008 11:42:07 PM PST
SAN FRANCISCO - Toxic chemicals sicken and kill thousands of people in
California each year and cost the state an estimated $2.6 billion in medical
expenses and lost wages, according to a report set to be released today.
The study by University of California researchers details the economic,
environmental and public health effects of industrial chemicals and calls
for state policies to phase out dangerous substances and promote safer
alternatives.
"This area is an essential piece of a sustainable future," said Michael
Wilson, a research scientist at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. "We
don't have a comprehensive policy on how chemicals and products are
designed, used and disposed of in this state."
The report, "Green Chemistry: Cornerstone to a Sustainable California," was
commissioned by the California Environmental Protection Agency and endorsed
by 127 researchers at UC campuses and national laboratories in California.
The researchers are scheduled to brief state lawmakers on their findings on
Friday.
The researchers estimate that in 2004, more than 200,000 California workers
suffered from chronic diseases linked to workplace exposure to industrial
chemicals. Another 4,400 people died of those diseases, which include
cancer, emphysema and Parkinson's disease.
Those illnesses cost state businesses, insurers and families $1.4 billion in
hospitalizations, drugs and other medical expenses, as well as lost
compensation to workers who could no longer work, according to the report.
Another 240,000 cases of asthma and other childhood diseases related to
chemical exposure cost the state another $1.2 billion.
While the study focuses on 2004, the most recent year for which data is
available, the numbers are representative of the effect of chemical exposure
in California in a typical year, said Paul Leigh, an economist at the UC
Davis School of Medicine who analyzed existing data to develop the
estimates.
Farmworkers, welders, hairdressers, beauticians and spray painters are among
the workers most likely to be exposed to toxic chemicals on the job,
according to the report.
The European Union is far ahead of the United States in passing laws to ban
toxic chemicals in favor of more environmental friendly alternatives, so
many products that can't be sold in Europe are shipped to the U.S., Wilson
said.
"As the rest of the world starts moving ahead, we become a market for the
stuff no one else wants to buy," he said.
The report's authors urged California officials to take the lead in
promoting "green chemistry," saying it represents an enormous opportunity
for economic growth and could create a more predictable market for
manufacturers.
"Their business liability could be reduced if they had some kind of clear
standard," said UC Berkeley researcher Megan Schwarzman.
Chemical companies would welcome a more comprehensive state policy, rather
than a "piecemeal" approach targeting specific chemicals or products, said
John Ulrich, who heads the Chemical Industry Council of California.
Ulrich said the chemical industry was moving toward developing and marking
safer, more eco-friendly products, pointing to Oakland-based Clorox Co.'s
new line of "green" cleaning products that have been endorsed by the Sierra
Club.
"Green chemistry is the natural evolution of a forward-looking industry,"
Ulrich said. "I think companies need to be looking in that direction, and
they are looking in that direction."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year launched the California Green Chemistry
Initiative to bring together scientists, policymakers and industry officials
to develop policy recommendations for chemicals.
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