n the face of mounting evidence of chemical hazards in the environment, and after years of pressure from environmental groups, the Washington State Department of Ecology recently became the first state agency in the nation to begin studying, with a view toward banning, 27 "bioaccumulative, persistent, and toxic compounds in the environment," also known as bioaccumulative chemicals of concern (BCCs). Persistent toxic chemicals are chemicals that resist decomposition. Bioaccumulate means that they build up in humans, animals, and other living things after they have been absorbed, ingested or inhaled. How harmful are they, what are their sources, and what must be done to manage or eliminate them?

On Dec. 2 the Department of Ecology held its first public meeting in Tacoma to open public dialogue on these questions. Mike Gallagher, Ecology's BCC coordinator, said the purpose of this and upcoming meetings around the state is to educate the Department of Ecology itself and the public, and to allow for input by representatives of business, industry, government agencies including international groups, environmentalists and the public.

In July Ecology issued a report discussing only dioxins. A dioxin is a BCC containing carbon, chlorine, hydrogen, and oxygen. By August the department was talking about possibly eliminating dioxins and 26 other bioaccumulative chemicals. The present list of 27 "will change and undoubtedly grow longer," said Ecology's communications director, Sheryl Hutchison.

Leading the charge or ignoring the discharge

"Public policy people have been yelling about these toxics for a long time," says Carol Dansereau, director of the Washington Toxics Coalition (WTC). "Now the bodies are turning up," in the form of growing cancer rates, reproductive problems and other abnormalities in animals, fish, and humans. The WTC works to identify toxics in the environment and to find alternatives to them.

With environmentalists and perhaps governments from around the country and the world looking at Washington state as a leader, what happens here will be extremely important. Dansereau said the battlefield will see environmental groups on one hand raising the alarm about the toxicity of BCCs and calling for their elimination as swiftly as possible; and big polluters and their friends in government and the media on the other hand, calling for still more studies while casting doubt on reports of the toxicity of BCCs, fighting to push deadlines to ban them and clean up toxic sites far into the future, and gaining more permits to pollute from the very agencies that are supposed to protect the environment and the public health.

One of Ecology's first steps was to issue a report titled Washington State Dioxin Source Assessment. Little is known about the production, discharge, and disposal of dioxins. The dioxin family of chemicals, which includes 210 different dioxins and furans, was first identified as a contaminant in 1957. Dioxins were present in Agent Orange, a defoliant used by U.S. forces in the Vietnam war; over two decades later, many affected areas remain wastelands where nothing grows and where birth defects, cancers, and other health problems are numerous. Vietnam war veterans have testified that they--and in some cases their families--suffer from a range of health problems, many of which they attribute to Agent Orange.

Dioxins are unintended byproducts formed during combustion of organic compounds in the presence of chloride, incineration of municipal and hospital wastes, and chlorine bleaching of wood pulp. Dioxins have almost no commercial or domestic applications. One form of dioxin, 2,3,7,8-TCDD, "is one of the most, if not the most, potent reproductive/developmental toxicant known" according to the EPA.

The major sources of dioxins in Washington are incinerators, wood waste boilers (known as hogged fuel boilers), pulp and paper mills that use chlorine compounds and bleach, cement kilns, and municipal wastewater treatment plants. In addition, Ecology found that some fertilizers "had high concentrations of dioxins, particularly those fertilizers made from electric arc furnace dust from steel mills." Other "potential sources" include charcoal briquette combustion from residential use, coal combustion, motor vehicle fuel combustion (diesel, leaded, unleaded), organic chemical manufacture, PCB combustion (transformers, office buildings), PCP treated surfaces, sewage sludge incineration, tire combustion, and wood burning (residences, forest fires).

Once dioxins are discharged into the air, they "may settle on water, land, or vegetation," according to the report, which goes on to cite storm water runoff as a possible dioxin vehicle.

"The primary route of dioxin exposure to humans is the food chain. This is probably the primary route for fish and wildlife as well," the report notes, citing an estimate that 99.96 percent of background human exposure to dioxins is through food intake. Dioxins are lipophilic, or fat-loving, compounds and thus are readily accumulated by most animals. Chronic effects include soft-tissue sarcomas, thymus and liver damage, birth defects, reproductive impairment, and immune system depression.

Are bioaccumulative chemicals inevitable in an industrialized society and is this the price we must pay for the way we live?

Avoiding the toxic soup

The WTC says there are alternatives for many of the worst pollutants. Dansereau writes in the WTC pamphlet Poisons in the Web of Life: "Pulp mills can use alternatives to chlorinated bleaches and eliminate the massive quantities of organochlorine pollution they dump into the environment. Farmers, foresters and individuals can use alternatives to pesticides in growing crops, forests and gardens. Individuals and businesses can use nontoxic cleaning products and other nontoxic household products. There are alternatives to incineration, toxics-based drycleaning, plastics, industrial solvents, and other toxic pollution sources." Dozens of pulp and paper mills in other countries use chlorine-free technologies that don't produce dioxins or furans, thus avoiding the "toxic soup" in virtually all lakes are rivers surrounding U.S. pulp and paper mills.

It's About Time EPA to Test Common Chemicals Suspected of Causing Hormonal Disruptions The Environmental Protection Agency announced recently it will screen some 15,000 commonly used chemicals in an effort to discover whether they affect the hormone systems of people and animals. Such compounds, known as "hormone disrupters," "hormone blockers" or "hormone mimickers," can lead to cancers, reproductive disorders, and other problems. Altogether the EPA said some 62,000 chemicals should be tested, but it would start with 15,000 most commonly used ones first. These chemicals can appear in anything from detergents to shampoo to pesticides or nail polish. "Testing chemicals on this scale for endocrine disruption has never been done before," an EPA spokesperson was quoted as saying. --R.K.

Although the battle over BCCs in Washington state has begun, the Department of Ecology's Mike Gallagher says he feels "no sense of urgency, only a sense of prudency" in deciding what to do about BCCs. The WTC says there is urgency in controlling and eliminating BCCs. "People and other animals aren't being hit by just single chemicals from single sources," a WTC slide show notes. "We're bombarded on a daily basis with hundreds of different pollutants, often with multiple sources....

"These pollutants may even be more harmful together than when they are alone. Current regulations pay very little attention to the cumulative and synergistic impacts of multiple chemical exposures." Cormorants from the Great Lakes have twisted bills, missing eyeballs, club feet, and other deformities at contaminated sites.

Whether the state gets mired in studies or moves decisively to protect peoples' health depends in part on citizens' involvement.

What can you do? Poisons in the Web of Life recommends: use the least toxic products, eat organic, reach for unbleached or alternatively bleached paper products. Fish, meat and dairy products tend to have higher concentrations of pollutants. Eat lower on the food chain. The WTC provides fact sheets, buyers' guides, slide shows and other materials.

To get involved, contact WTC at (206) 632-1545 or 1-800-SAFE, or WashPIRG, a public research group that works on the environment, at (206) 523-8985.