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Current chemical regulations in Canada and the United States are not protecting people from newly detected chemicals in the Great Lakes, according to a new report co-authored by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production.
Known as “chemicals of emerging concern,” these contaminants are primarily coming from the use and disposal of everyday products, such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, cosmetics, personal care and plastic products. Established policies and control mechanisms, such as wastewater treatment plants, were not designed to manage these types of substances, and as a result, they are now found in the Great Lakes basin along the Canada-United States border.
“If governments do not take decisive action now, there is a reasonable chance the Great Lakes will see another catastrophe like that of PCBs that are now suspected by federal agencies to cause cancer,” says Assoc. Prof. Joel Tickner of Community Health and Sustainability Department and project director in the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production who co-authored the report. “The only way we can truly eliminate the emissions of these toxics is to redesign products so that they do not contain dangerous chemicals to start with.”
The International Joint Commission Work Group on Great Lakes Chemicals of Emerging Concern commissioned the report, “The Challenge of Substances of Emerging Concern in the Great Lakes Basin: A review of chemicals policies and programs in Canada and the United States.”
Work group members presented the findings at the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Biennial Meeting in Windsor, Ontario on Oct. 7, 2009 and discussed the issue with the public to help inform the Commission’s 15th Biennial Report.
The executive summary and full report can be downloaded at www.sustainableproduction.org.