Dioxin: Dangerous as Expected
"There is adequate evidence from studies in human populations as well as in laboratory animals and from ancillary experimental data to support the inference that humans are likely to respond with a plethora of effects from exposure to dioxin and related compounds." So states the summary of the 2000-page report of the recently released EPA reassessment of dioxin, which concluded that dioxin and related compounds could possibly present a risk of cancer, as well as potential for adverse impacts on human metabolism, immune function, and fetal development at very low levels.
Dioxin is produced as an unwanted by-product of heating or burning chlorine in the presence of organic materials. Dioxin is released into the air and water from manufacturing processes. The most widely known examples of such processes include incineration of hazardous waste and hospital waste and bleaching of paper. It is estimated that 90% of a human's body burden of dioxin comes from ingestion of contaminated food.
Review of studies included in the reassessment determined that subtle changes in liver enzyme activity, levels of reproductive hormones in males, reduced glucose tolerance, and cellular changes related to immune function suggest that body burden levels up to 10 times the level found in the average person may be sufficient to produce noncancer effects. Concern was raised that even lower levels might cause these effects in sensitive individuals.
The EPA risk characterization states that "We need to continue to monitor trends in human body burden for dioxin and related compounds," and raises the importance of considering effects in addition to cancer when formulating dioxin exposure regulations. Lynn Goldman, assistant EPA administrator for prevention, pesticides, and toxic substances, stressed, however, that the reassessment was based largely on animal studies and that it is difficult to draw conclusions for humans.
EPA will be accepting public comment on the findings of the report, which are expected to be contested by many in the industrial and scientific communities. After the period for public comment, the reassessment will be reviewed by the EPA Scientific Advisory Board, which consists largely of scientists outside of government, and by an interagency review committee.
George Lucier, author of two of the background papers used in the reevaluation, said, "EPA's reevaluation of dioxin's risks has been a very open process involving scores of expert scientists in the area of dioxin. There is increasing evidence that this compound is a potent and persistent environmental hormone with the capacity to alter cell function and normal growth patterns leading to neurological, developmental, and reproductive effects. However, we still don't know if current background levels are capable of causing these effects."
Goldman Environmental Prize
A Cree Indian fighting a Canadian dam project and an Egyptian woman leading a wide-scale recycling effort are among this year's six recipients of the Goldman Environmental Prize, the world's largest grassroots environmental prize program.
The Goldman Prize, awarded for "sustained and important efforts to preserve or enhance the environment," includes a $60,000 award to allow the recipients to pursue their projects without financial constraints. The prize jury includes members of the Goldman Environmental Foundation and individuals such as Joan Martin-Brown, the founder of WorldWIDE, and Alvaro Umaña, the former environmental minister of Costa Rica. The winners, one from each of the six inhabited continents, were nominated by 19 international environmental organizations including the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, National Geographic Society, Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, Friends of the Earth, and a confidential panel of environmental experts from more than 30 nations.
Africa: Laila Kamel. As volunteer director of the Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE), Laila Kamel has dedicated her time to improving the lives of Cairo's garbage collector population. The unskilled and uneducated garbage collectors live outside the city among mountains of garbage and make their livelihood out of collecting household waste. APE has pioneered several recycling projects in the community with the goal of turning "trash into cash." For example, high-grade fertilizer is produced from organic waste at a neighborhood composting plant and is sold to farmers and gardeners. Other projects include melting and reworking metals and manufacturing recycled paper products. Kamel developed a Rug Weaving Center where young women "turn rags into riches." The women are reviving an ancient Egyptian craft by using discarded cotton remnants to weave rugs on a hand-loom. The colorful rugs are sold at craft fairs, and the earnings are divided among the weavers. While they learn to weave, the young women also learn basic math and literacy skills. At least 100 women participate in Kamel's "learning and earning" project each year.
Into the hills. Tuenjai Deetes works to protect Thailand's natural resources while honoring tribal culture.
Asia: Tuenjai Deetes. For nearly 20 years, Tuenjai Deetes has lived and worked with Thailand's disenfranchised hill tribe people. These groups have fled ethnic wars and hardships in Burma and Laos for decades to settle in the northern border region, a mountainous area plagued by drug trafficking. Because the hill tribes have shifted agriculture on the steep slopes, they are partially responsible for massive deforestation and soil erosion that have devastated the nation's most important watersheds. Tuenjai co-founded the Hill Area Development Foundation to increase the self-sufficiency of these communities, while also protecting natural resources and honoring the tribal cultures. Tuenjai has helped introduce reforestation projects and sustainable agricultural practices for steep slopes to help protect the fragile area.
Island Nations: Andrew Simmons. In response to extensive exploitation of one of the world's oldest forest reserves located in his community, Andrew Simmons has established a successful environmental movement in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an eastern Caribbean island nation. In 1978, he founded the JEMS Progressive Community Organization, which identifies solutions to conservation and development needs in the area through festivals, plays, and music. The members of the community, especially the youth, have been very responsive, participating in clean-up campaigns and leadership training. JEMS has established a day-care center where conservation is taught to children, and an adult literacy project that focuses on environmental issues and provides skills training. The community is committed to ensuring that only environmentally sound development projects be located in the area.
Europe: Ildiko "Heffa" Schücking. Although lobbying the government is unusual in Germany, Ildiko "Heffa" Schücking has been highly effective in influencing government policy on environmental matters. In the 1988 "Rainforest Memorandum," she exposed the link between consumption in northern industrialized countries and the destruction of southern tropical forests, documented the Federal Republic's responsibility for rainforest destruction, and called for an end to German funding of destructive activities in primary rainforests. She has also organized over 1200 local councils throughout Germany to abandon the use of tropical timber in municipal building projects. In 1992 Schücking founded Urgewald, an organization that has succeeded in putting the issue of multilateral and bilateral aid reform on the national agenda.
North America: Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come. The vast subarctic region of Northern Quebec where the Cree Indians have led a subsistence lifestyle for 5000 years is being threatened by efforts to build a major hydroelectric development project near the James Bay. The first part of the dam project has been built and has caused many environmental and social problems. If the state-owned utility, Hydro Quebec, is completed, it would block 9 major rivers with more than 30 dams and 600 dikes and would damage a watershed area the size of France and flood an area larger than New Hampshire. Coon Come has led the Cree in their opposition to the dam by establishing a local, national, and international coalition to oppose James Bay II. As a result of Coon Come's work, New York has canceled major contracts to purchase electricity from Hydro Quebec, and the utility has been forced to conduct an environmental impact assessment, which the Cree are reviewing.
Taking back the land. Luis Macas, leader of Ecuador's national Indian organization, is leading the fight for control of the Amazon by indigenous peoples. Photo: Goldman Environmental Foundation
South/Central America: Luis Macas. In a struggle for indigenous rights in Ecuador, where indigenous people represent 45% of the population, Luis Macas has helped to make major advances. Macas, a Quichua Indian from the Andean highlands, helped organize a peaceful uprising on 28 May 1990, a synchronized event in which more than one million indigenous people stopped working. This opened the door to discussions between indigenous groups and the government. In May 1992, the president of Ecuador returned three million acres in the Amazon's Oriente region to 148 indigenous communities, the single largest land return in the region. But these communities have recently been under pressure from multinational companies that have been drilling in the Amazon for 20 years. Macas, now the leader of Ecuador's national Indian organization, CONAIE, is campaigning to get oil companies to provide protection for the Oriente.
World Population Conference
With the world population growing at a faster rate than ever before, concern over environmental degradation and the diminished quality of life around the globe is increasing. These and other concerns have prompted the establishment of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), to be held by the United Nations in Cairo, Egypt, from September 5-13 of this year. The conference will set population policy guidelines for the next decade that recognize the interrelation of the population, the environment, and human well-being. The aim, according to the U.N., is to find the right balance between fulfilling human rights, needs, and aspirations, on the one hand, and fostering sustainable development and preserving environmental conditions and natural resources, on the other.
The organizers of the conference are emphasizing the critical role that population policies must play in the struggle to halt environmental deterioration, alleviate poverty, improve health and education, and empower women to participate fully in their societies. This is the third in a series of once-every-decade world population conferences sponsored by the U.N., and the first to explicitly link population with development. The first such conference, held in 1974 in Bucharest, produced the World Population Plan of Action. The second, held in 1984 in Mexico City, produced recommendations for further implementation of the action plan.
Some of the issues to be discussed at the third conference were addressed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, such as sustainable development, environment, and the status of women. But population was virtually ignored because there were conflicts among participants over how to address it. The Cairo conference has the potential to be more productive. Vice President Gore has already indicated that he will attend. President Clinton has requested a $100 million increase in international population assistance for the coming year and called for a restructuring of foreign aid programs to promote sustainable development.
Although the reluctance of the United States that was evident at the Earth Summit may no longer be an obstacle, other controversies remain, including one major issue to be addressed, the population-environment link. At the Earth Summit, a rift emerged between developed and developing countries over accepting responsibility for environmental problems. This may resurface in conflict between rapid population growth in developing countries versus high consumption and waste in developed countries. American officials have acknowledged the impact of high U.S. consumption on world resources, but the delegations of developing countries are not convinced that the United States is serious about making a more concrete commitment in this area.
Another major issue to be discussed is the poverty-population cycle. Some governments and grassroots activists argue that socioeconomic development should be a priority in dealing with poverty and population. They argue that population growth will continue to be high among the world's poorest peoples unless substantial investments are made in education, training, credit, basic infrastructure, and social welfare services, particularly for women.
Women have been the most prominent and organized participants in planning ICPD and have the most at stake in the policies that will result from the conference. Many women want to ensure sufficient funding to implement development and family planning programs which are women centered and which empower women to have greater control over their lives and achieve gender equality. After family planning, education is probably considered the most important factor in empowering women. Educated women are more likely to use family planning and have lower fertility rates and smaller families. Many women involved in planning the conference have voiced concerns that females must never be targets of population policy without being fully involved in all decisions regarding population and development.
The ICPD Preparatory Committee has prepared a draft Programme of Action, which is being distributed to governments and nongovernmental organizations. It will be finalized and approved in Cairo. The draft program represents the nations' shared understanding of what needs to be done to address the challenges of population, and of development as it relates to population, over the next 20 years. It includes new emphases and approaches to a number of key issues.
Green Government
President Clinton celebrated Earth Day 1994 at the Meridian Hill Park in Washington, DC, giving a speech which highlighted the administration's environmental accomplishments and addressed work that still needs to be done. "Preserving the environment is at the core of everything we have to do in our own country," he said in his address. Clinton argues that protecting the environment is of utmost importance, yet environmentalists have criticized him for not being aggressive enough in dealing with environmental issues. In his Earth Day address, Clinton countered such charges and called for action in several areas.
A major area in which Clinton has been criticized is budget. The League of Conservation Voters charged in its annual presidential scorecard that Clinton failed to back up his environmental rhetoric with financial commitments (see Spheres of Influence, EHP 102: 370). Clinton's initial budget proposals, which looked promising, were later reduced, including EPA's operating budget. The EPA's operating budget, which pays for all of EPA's core programs except sewage treatment and Superfund, was cut by 1% after inflation, outraging many environmentalists. The administration has countered this move by presenting a 1995 budget proposal which includes a 5% increase in overall spending, including a 13% increase in EPA's operating program budget.
Environmentalists have also criticized Clinton for not pushing more aggressive policies in areas of wetlands preservation, global warming, and protection of endangered species. Yet, in an Earth Day press release, the administration boasts about its progress on breaking the gridlock on wetlands policy. The administration proposed a package that emphasizes protection and restoration of the nation's wetlands and includes reforms to increase the fairness and flexibility of federal regulatory programs; however, environmentalists are still not satisfied with the administration's efforts.
In the area of global warming, Clinton introduced the Climate Change Action Plan, a comprehensive national strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000. Although the plan has been applauded for its aggressiveness, critics say it does not go far enough because it does not address post-2000 emissions or recommend any specific action to Congress.
The Clinton administration also claimed progress in the area of forest protection. Clinton's Forest Plan, finalized on 14 April 1994, is described by the administration as innovative and unlike any prior federal effort, in that it focuses on entire regions, rather than on a single species. The plan, which was intended to be a compromise between timber interests and environmentalists, provides for the future economic and ecological health of the Pacific Northwest, with $1.5 billion in federal community assistance. However, environmentalists such as the Wilderness Society and the National Audubon Society are opposed to the plan because it would lift logging bans recently imposed by federal courts that reduce cutting from the high levels of the 1980s and require more protection for wildlife. These groups have filed a lawsuit to block the plan, claiming that it violates the National Forest Policy Management Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The plan protects about 70% of what remains of the ancient forests in the northwest, leaving about 30% for logging, said Brock Evans of the National Audubon Society. "We all give very high marks to the administration for trying to solve the issue in an environmental way," Evans said. However, "We are challenging [the plan] because we feel all [forests] should be protected. The 30% that they plan to log is some of the best habitat for biodiversity."
In response to environmentalists' charges that he should exert more energy toward advancing Superfund and reauthorization of the Clean Water Act, Clinton cited the administration's recently finalized reform package of the Superfund program and has called on Congress to pass both pieces of legislation. The administration's Clean Water strategy calls for $10 billion in federal funds to be provided through the year 2004 to reclaim and rehabilitate America's lakes and streams.
The administration also claims advances in areas pertaining to environmental effects on human health. The EPA is proposing a rigorous health-based standard for pesticides, which would remove dangerous chemicals from the market more quickly and reduce their use by helping farmers employ alternative methods of pest control. Clinton has signed an executive order on environmental justice, which will ensure that hazardous substances are controlled in such a way that all communities receive environmental protection regardless of race or economic circumstance. Clinton has also created the President's Council on Sustainable Development, a partnership of industry, labor, government, and environmental and civil rights organizations, to explore and develop policies that encourage economic growth, create jobs, and lead to the effective and environmentally sound use of natural resources.
In addition to progress on domestic environmental issues, the administration says it is continuing to advance international environmental issues. Environmental protection was emphasized during the passage of NAFTA, which drew support from a large number of national environmental advocacy groups. The administration negotiated a strong side agreement that includes "green" provisions to protect the environment and improve the quality of life on both sides of U.S. borders. NAFTA is also expected to double the number of American jobs supported by environmental technology exports to Mexico. The administration also served as a leader in achieving environmental gains during negotiations on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade including a Trade and Environment Committee on the new World Trade Organization, which will provide a forum for international dialogue on making the multilateral trading system more open and responsive to environmental concerns.
Clinton pointed out the administration's efforts to "green" the government, to serve as an example for the rest of the nation. He issued executive orders for the federal government to use recycled products, reduce federal energy consumption by 30%, use more vehicles that run on alternative fuel, use energy-efficient computers, and cut toxic emissions in federal facilities by 50%. Not only are these practices environment friendly, but they provide opportunities to save taxpayers money. One visible example of Clinton's efforts was the Earth Day press release that was printed on brown recycled paper and the fact that the 80-page Earth Day 1994 report is available by request only, in order to conserve resources.
Sowing Seeds of Controversy
An emerging trend in agricultural biotechnology is the genetic engineering of crop plants that are resistant to certain herbicides and pesticides. The Department of Agriculture has recently approved two such plants. In February, the USDA deemed genetically altered cotton seeds safe for use, and in June, it approved a herbicide-tolerant soybean. While these altered plants may cut costs and reduce chemical use by farmers, environmentalists question their benefits.
Cotton seeds were genetically altered to increase yield and cut back on herbicide use. The new product, called BXN cotton, was developed by Calgene, Inc. of Davis, California. The altered cotton seeds, which have been tested for four years, contain a gene that dissolves the herbicide bromoxynil. Farmers who now use many different weed killers would be able to use only bromoxynil, which is applied in smaller amounts and less frequently. According to Calgene, the seeds could reduce a farmer's use of herbicides by as much as 40%. The company estimates that farmers spend about $200 million a year on herbicides, but still lose about $600 million in reduced yields because of weeds.
Although the new seeds cut back on the use of herbicides, the Union of Concerned Scientists feels that chemical use in agriculture should be diminished even more, because of the dangers posed by chemicals to the environment and human health. The group criticized the new plant product because of its dependence on bromoxynil, which will encourage more widespread use of the chemical. The group also points out that EPA has linked bromoxynil with birth defects.
"We think American farmers should be moving away from herbicide use, but biotechnology keeps [developing] crops dependent on chemicals," said Jane Rissler, a senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "We ought to turn to methods of sustainable agriculture. We're using too many chemicals."
EPA is studying an application to market bromoxynil for use with BXN cotton, submitted by Rhone-Poulenc, the world's largest manufacturer of bromoxynil. Rhone-Poulenc helped develop the new seeds under a research agreement with Calgene. The seeds could go on the market as early as 1995, according to Calgene.
Soybeans have also been genetically engineered to withstand a chemical weed killer. Biotechnologists inserted a gene into the soybeans that makes them resistant to glyphosate, a popular weed killer. Glyphosate, sold commercially as Roundup, is an inexpensive herbicide that kills most weeds, and it is the most widely used weed killer in the world. The altered soybeans offer farmers a chance to save money, because they can use only glyphosate, rather than several different herbicides.
Boon or bust? Soybeans resistant to glyphosphate, the weed killer in Roundup, may produce better yields, but scientists worry about toxic and genetic effects.
Glyphosate is relatively friendly to the environment compared to other herbicides, breaking down more quickly than others. But it is still a toxicant, and Rissler says it could pose problems to other plants if it is misapplied. The EPA will determine whether Monsanto, which genetically engineered the soybean seeds, may use glyphosate on the altered soybean plants. Monsanto is also the manufacturer of glyphosate. The company now plans to grow enough seeds for farmers to plant, which will take at least one and a half years. The company does not expect to sell the seeds until after 1995.
Chlorine under Seige
Chlorine is under siege. A number of environmental groups and a binational government organization want to ban the chemical that has been a mainstay of modern industrial chemistry and is perhaps most familiar to Americans as the chemical that renders drinking water pure.
Laying a host of human and wildlife health problems at chlorine's door, Greenpeace and the National Wildlife Federation, for example, along with the International Joint Commission (IJC), the U.S.-Canadian body that oversees the Great Lakes, are calling for industries to phase out or "sunset" chlorine as a feedstock or precursor for other chemicals and products like plastics. Niether the IJC nor other groups offer a timetable.
A 1994 report by the National Wildlife Federation, summarizing numerous studies, blames exposure to chlorinated chemicals for a wide range of birth defects and reproductive abnormalities in many wildlife species. Furthermore, chlorine has been blamed for increases in a variety of cancers such as breast and prostate, as well as being blamed for diseases like endometriosis. The IJC says that of 11 critical pollutants in the Great Lakes, 8 are chlorinated organic chemcials.
Brad Lienhart, managing director of the Chlorine Chemistry Council of the Chemical Manufacturers Association, argues that the claims of chlorine's damage to the environment are misleading. "We would acknowledge that there are certain organochlorines, just a couple of dozen that are no longer active in the marketplace, that have certainly had a contributory effect on the environment in many years past. We've had noticeable reduction of those products," he said.
Lienhart dismissed claims that chlorine compounds can be blamed for increases in breast and other cancers as well as declines in sperm count as "not being founded in science and not supportable by scientific study." He pointed to recent research by Nancy Krieger at the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute which found no link to increases in breast cancer and exposure to two organochlorines, PCBs, and DDE. This research contradicts research by Mary Wolff of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, which linked breast cancer risks to levels of DDE, a chlorinated compound that is the major metabolite of DDT. Krieger has called for more detailed investigations to clear up the discrepancy.
Moreover, Lienhart said that chlorine's industrial uses are manifold and vital to modern life. "We're talking in this country alone indirect or direct support of 45 million jobs and $1.7 trillion of economic value." Chlorine, Lienhart said, is the most active building block from the periodic table.
Robert West, a chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said, "Chlorine is interwoven throughout the modern world." Directly or indirectly chlorine is involved in making products as diverse as paint, toothpaste, paper textiles, and semiconductors.
According to Jack Thornton of Greenpeace, however, there are replacements for 90% of the industrial processes using chlorine. For example, he said, there are nonchlorine-based replacements for the widely used, chlorine-based PVC plastic, which is used to make products ranging from wallets to bicycle seats. Although industry representatives have said it would cost at least $6 billion and also carry an environmental cost, Thornton argues that the alternatives have a less harmful impact on the environment than chlorine.
Nevertheless, steps are being taken to find chlorine replacements. Lienhart said that the chemical and paper industries are moving toward substituting chlorine dioxide for elemental chlorine in the bleaching process. The decision to move in this direction, he said, grows out of discussions with the EPA. "The reason we've agreed to do that is because it does substantially reduce the formation of what are minuscule but still concerning quantities of dioxin and furans and chlorophenols in the effluent," Lienhart said.
Scientists are also studying chlorine dioxide as a possible pre-disinfectant replacement for chlorine in drinking water treatment plants. Unlike elemental chlorine, chlorine dioxide does not produce high levels of trihalomethanes, a class of chemicals of which some are animal carcinogens and some are suspected carcinogens. It also is as effective or better than chlorine as a disinfectant. Chlorine dioxide is used in 300 plants in the United States and in thousands in Europe.
In what she described as the first study of its kind, Susan Richardson and colleagues at the EPA Research Laboratory in Athens, Georgia, identified over 40 organic by-products formed by chlorine dioxide in a pilot drinking water treatment plant in Evansville, Indiana. The researchers did find a few toxic by-products from chlorine dioxide, but at much lower levels compared with chlorine. They also found a number of compounds whose mutagenicity and toxicity are not known.
Another alternative purification method widely used in Europe is ozonization, the process of bubbling ozone and oxygen or air into water. According to William Glaze, an environmental scientist at the University of North Carolina who has studied ozonization, the process is a better disinfectant than chlorine, but he said it also leads to some potentially harmful by-products that scientists have only become aware of in the past seven or eight years. "The research that is emerging in this field is showing that there are a set of by-products that are produced by ozone in combination with the ingredients in natural waters that are probably, other than bromate [a carcinogen], not serious, but let's not think there are no risks involved."
Meanwhile, the Clinton administration has backed off of an earlier statement by the EPA advocating a phase-out and is now taking a cautious approach and calling only for further examination of chlorine. In the reauthorization of the Clean Water Act, the administration proposes that after two and a half years of study by a scientific task force on the health and environmental effects of chlorine and chlorinated compounds, plus public comment, the EPA should develop a strategy on chlorine.
Last Update: July 15, 1998