Policy Concentrates POLLUTION
Washington State targets toxic chemicals
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Legislature passes bill to protect people, wildlife from harmful substances in consumer products Lawmakers in the state of Washington have cleared a bill aimed at protecting people and wildlife from toxic chemicals in consumer products. The legislation, which Gov. Jay Inslee (D) is expected to sign, requires state agencies to identify and regulate classes of chemicals that pose
Washington State has passed a bill to regulate toxic chemicals in consumer products that threaten people and endangered orcas.
a health risk to sensitive populations such as pregnant women and children and endangered species like orcas. “The same toxic chemicals found in our homes and bodies are also found in wastewater, storm water, sediments, and fish and wildlife,” Mindy Roberts, director of the People for Puget Sound program at the Washington Environmental Council, an advocacy group, says in a statement. “While orcas do not use consumer products like TVs, chemicals from these products build up in our indoor environments and eventually make their way into the outdoor environment.” The bill targets several chemical classes, including phthalates, per- and polyfluoro-
alkyl substances, polychlorinated biphenyls, alkylphenol ethoxylates, bisphenols, and organohalogen flame retardants. It gives the Washington State Department of Ecology authority to ban such chemicals in consumer products if the agency determines that safer alternatives are available. “This victory is especially important given that the federal administration is failing to protect the health of people and the environment from harmful chemicals,” says Sarah Doll, national director of Safer States, a network of environmental health advocacy groups. An overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 2016 gave the US Environmental Protection Agency new authorities to regulate toxic chemicals. Chemical manufacturers supported TSCA reform to stop states from creating a patchwork of different chemical laws. Environmental groups claim that the EPA is not using those authorities, so states like Washington are taking matters into their own hands, creating the very laws that chemical manufacturers fought to stop. “By establishing a stronger, robust federal chemical regulatory program, the 2016 amendments to TSCA provide important regulatory certainty to the business community,” the American Chemistry Council, which represents chemical manufacturers, says in an emailed statement. TSCA reform also “relieves state governments of the need to invest significant resources in the complex job of regulating chemicals,” the group says.—BRITT ERICKSON
BY THE NUMBERS
2.7%
Percentage decrease in international students coming to the US from March 2018 to March 2019, according to data from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Prior data show increases for many years until 2017–18, which had a 0.5% drop. 18
C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | APRIL 29, 2019
China’s cleanair efforts could hike emissions elsewhere Regional clean-air efforts in China’s national capital region could boost air pollution in other parts of the country, according to a new study (Sci. Adv. 2019, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv. eaav4707). An international team of researchers led by Delin Fang of Beijing Normal University used computer models to examine the effects of policies to reduce particulate matter with diameter of 2.5 µm or less in the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and
Beijing experiences high concentrations of particulate matter pollution. in Hebei Province. The three areas, considered collectively to be the national capital region, often suffer from extremely high levels of particulate matter pollution. The researchers found that emission control policies in the region would shift polluting industries and power generation out of the area and into other parts of China, especially neighboring provinces. This, in turn, would raise particulate matter pollution levels in those provinces. Wind could carry emissions from these areas to the national capital region, canceling out part or all of the region’s efforts to cut air pollution, the researchers say. They also point out that many of the power plants and factories outside of the capital region are older and technologically inferior, especially when it comes to efficiency and emissions controls. So shifting activity to those facilities would likely lead to a net increase in total pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, the researchers say.—CHERYL HOGUE
C R E D I T: S H UT T E RSTO CK ( BOT H)
CHEMICAL REGULATION
