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23/01/2008
Serious gaps in existing laws regulating the production and use of hazardous chemicals fail to protect public health and the environment, according to a new report to be released Thursday, Jan. 17, by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA. 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 or 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 upon 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 in California 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.
"This report, for the first time, puts cost estimates on the consequences for Californians of current chemical and product management policies," said Dr. John Balmes, COEH director, UC Berkeley professor of environmental health sciences and UCSF professor of medicine. "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 presents data from the state'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 breastmilk, 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, say the report authors. 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 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."
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