Presentation Abstract
The world today is awash in a sea of chemicals. Many of which on are defined as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBTs). PBTs substances are a class of compounds that have high resistance to degradation from abiotic and biotic factors, high mobility in the environment and high toxicity. These PBTs can migrate from products into the water, air, or soil where they can remain for decades damaging the environment and hurting public health and wildlife. While regulatory agencies have done an excellent job addressing smoke stack and water pipe emission, today much of the pollution that enters our environment comes from the small but steady releases of toxic chemicals contained in everyday products such as brake pads, paint pigments, automobile leaks, furniture coatings, roofing materials, and flame retardants. These chemicals grind off of our brakes, run off our roofs, and seep from our boats. Eventually, they wash into local streams and rivers and eventually migrate downstream to Puget Sound. Research shows PBTs are damaging both the environment and the wildlife of Salish Sea including the iconic Killer Whales. Ecology like many other states and federal agencies have established effective programs to clean up and manage toxic chemicals. But cleanup after the fact is the most expensive way to deal with toxics. Ultimately, the smartest, cheapest, and healthiest approach to reducing toxic chemical threats is to prevent the use of toxic chemicals in the first place and prevent their being washed into our waterways or released into our environment. Ecology’s is authorized by state laws such as the Children’s Safe Product Act, Toxics in Packaging, Better Brakes, and the Copper Boat Paint to focus our efforts up the production stream in order to reduce and/or eliminate the use of toxic chemicals. Innovative approaches to product design using green chemistry throughout the product lifecycle is needed to reduce these sources of toxic threats. RTT is working with various industry and business sectors including the automotive industry, product packaging, and boat paint manufacturers and marinas to reduce the PBTs entering the Salish Sea. This presentation will focus on the threat PBTs pose to Washington in general and the Salish Sea in particular, as well as, the challenge to prevent their washing into the Sea. The presentation will also discuss Ecology’s process for identifying and addressing priority PBTs including information on green chemistry solutions to these challenges. Finally, it will outline some of the innovative partnerships with government agencies, non-profits, universities, and industry Ecology is developing to address the problem.
Session Title
Policy and Management Challenges for Restoring and Protecting Water Quality in the Salish Sea
Keywords
Product testing, Green chemistry
Conference Track
SSE8: Policy, Management, and Regulations
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE8-20
Start Date
5-4-2018 1:30 PM
End Date
5-4-2018 1:45 PM
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Persistent pollutants--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Pollutants--Bioaccumulation--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Pollution prevention--Washington (State); Green chemistry--Washington (State)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Going up the production stream to protect the Salish Sea
The world today is awash in a sea of chemicals. Many of which on are defined as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBTs). PBTs substances are a class of compounds that have high resistance to degradation from abiotic and biotic factors, high mobility in the environment and high toxicity. These PBTs can migrate from products into the water, air, or soil where they can remain for decades damaging the environment and hurting public health and wildlife. While regulatory agencies have done an excellent job addressing smoke stack and water pipe emission, today much of the pollution that enters our environment comes from the small but steady releases of toxic chemicals contained in everyday products such as brake pads, paint pigments, automobile leaks, furniture coatings, roofing materials, and flame retardants. These chemicals grind off of our brakes, run off our roofs, and seep from our boats. Eventually, they wash into local streams and rivers and eventually migrate downstream to Puget Sound. Research shows PBTs are damaging both the environment and the wildlife of Salish Sea including the iconic Killer Whales. Ecology like many other states and federal agencies have established effective programs to clean up and manage toxic chemicals. But cleanup after the fact is the most expensive way to deal with toxics. Ultimately, the smartest, cheapest, and healthiest approach to reducing toxic chemical threats is to prevent the use of toxic chemicals in the first place and prevent their being washed into our waterways or released into our environment. Ecology’s is authorized by state laws such as the Children’s Safe Product Act, Toxics in Packaging, Better Brakes, and the Copper Boat Paint to focus our efforts up the production stream in order to reduce and/or eliminate the use of toxic chemicals. Innovative approaches to product design using green chemistry throughout the product lifecycle is needed to reduce these sources of toxic threats. RTT is working with various industry and business sectors including the automotive industry, product packaging, and boat paint manufacturers and marinas to reduce the PBTs entering the Salish Sea. This presentation will focus on the threat PBTs pose to Washington in general and the Salish Sea in particular, as well as, the challenge to prevent their washing into the Sea. The presentation will also discuss Ecology’s process for identifying and addressing priority PBTs including information on green chemistry solutions to these challenges. Finally, it will outline some of the innovative partnerships with government agencies, non-profits, universities, and industry Ecology is developing to address the problem.
