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Toxic Breastmilk

Study finds flame retardants in local mothers' milk, sparking toxic reduction campaign in Washington

by Sibyl Diver and Laurie Valeriano

The Environmental Working Group recently found toxic fire retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs) in the breast milk of all twenty women who participated in their research study. The average PDBE levels in the milk of the first-time US mothers was 75 times higher than the average found in recent European studies. These findings demonstrate the need to phase out the use of persistent toxic chemicals and replace them with safer alternatives.

Erika Schreder, staff scientist at the Washington Toxics Coalition was one of the mothers who participated in the study. "It's very troubling to find out what I've been giving my daughter since she was born, what I thought was the perfect food, is contaminated." But she plans to continue breastfeeding her nine-month old daughter. The study still emphasizes the benefits of breastfeeding.

Besides PDBEs, examples of persistent toxic chemicals include dioxin, mercury, and PCBs. These chemicals, also referred to as persistent bioaccumulative toxins or PBTs, build up in the environment, the food chain, and in our bodies. And they pose serious health threats for us and our children--threats ranging from learning disabilities to birth defects to cancer. Persistent toxic chemicals are released from industries in this state every day and are found in products used in our homes, schools, and workplaces.

This study and others like it are fueling increased public concern about our exposure to environmental toxics, especially the impacts of persistent toxic chemicals on developing babies. Yet policy makers in Washington State have not taken the necessary steps to protect public health and the environment from these chemicals.

The Washington State Legislature recently failed to fund a groundbreaking Department of Ecology program to phase out persistent toxic chemicals (Ecology's PBT program). And program funding was eliminated despite the fact that funds were available from the state toxics control account, a dedicated fund that is supported from a tax on hazardous chemicals, which does not impact the general fund.

Ecology's PBT program was developed through an open public process, and it has made important contributions to protecting public health in Washington over the past four years. This has included developing a strong state plan to phase out sources of mercury pollution and testing fish in our lakes and rivers for unsafe mercury levels.

A broad alliance of citizens' groups, called the Toxic Free Legacy Coalition, has responded to the Legislature's decision by mounting a major campaign to restore funding for the Department of Ecology's PBT Program. The Toxic-Free Legacy Coalition includes forty environmental, public health, and faith-based organizations, all committed to eliminating persistent toxic chemicals in Washington State. The environmental community has also made this issue one of its four priorities for the 2004 legislative session, in addition to water supply, forest protection, and energy efficiency.

Coalition members have collaborated to generate hundreds of postcards to legislators who have the power to play a leading role in restoring the funding. The have also met with key legislators to educate them on the issue. And the coalition has worked with the Governor and Ecology to move forward on Ecology's policy strategy to reduce and eliminate persistent toxic pollution, despite the temporary funding gap.

The coalition work is paying off. At a recent "Meet Your Legislator" forum in Kirkland, all seven legislators attending pledged their support for PBT program funding. Said Representative Toby Nixon (R-Kirkland), "It's just a few hundred thousand dollars. That's what we call budget dust. And it's such an important long-term thing for our children and grandchildren. We have to fund it."

We have challenging opposition, however. The chemical industry, led by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), is a primary opponent of this program and others like it in the country. Recently, the Environmental Working Group obtained a document detailing a ACC proposal to spend $120,000 annually on a campaign against citizen efforts to protect Californians against exposure to inadequately tested toxic chemicals. The memo proposes to create phony "grassroots" groups to carry the message of the industry because the ACC lacks credibility and trust among members of the public. ACC sees efforts like the one in California and ours in Washington as a threat because they focus on regulation based on precaution and prevention.

Add your voice to this issue. Please consider joining us in Olympia on January 29th for Environmental Lobby Day. Also, please contact your legislators at: (800) 562-6000 and ask them to support funding for Ecology's PBT program or go to http://dfind.leg.wa.gov/dfinder.cfm. To learn more on the issue, visit www.toxicfreelegacy.org.

WWW Washington Free Press