Fears that chemicals in household goods can damage immune system

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Sunday Herald - 21 September 2003Scientists warn of new toxic toy danger

Fears that chemicals in household goods can damage immune system

By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor

 

 

 

 

 

TOXIC chemicals in baby toys, nappies, clothes, shoes, food and plastics are

endangering human health and damaging the environment, say Europe’s top

scientific advisers.

They are worried that a new class of chemicals known as organotins are becoming

so commonplace in consumer products that they could be threatening the immune

systems of children and disrupting the hormones of wildlife.

One product, an impregnated baking paper, has already been withdrawn by

manufacturers, and others are likely to follow. “We do not want to cause panic

but it is an area where there is concern,” said James Bridges, the chairman of

the European Commission (EC) scientific committee on toxicity, ecotoxicity and

the environment.

The committee, which comprises 17 leading experts from 11 countries, has issued

a report casting serious doubts on the safety of organotins. It concludes:

“Total exposure to organotin compounds for humans, especially for children, in

view of the sensitivity of the developing immune system, is cause of concern.”

Organotins are used as stabilisers or catalysts in PVC, silicones, polyesters

and polyurethanes, as well as in pesticides, glues and wood preservatives. They

include at least seven major groups of compounds, all of which incorporate tin –

like tributyltins and dimethyltins.

The chemicals are known to attack the white blood cells, on which the human

immune system depends. When released into water, they have also been shown to

alter the sex of snails.

They have recently been detected in a wide range of products, including the

padding in cycling shorts, a children’s paddling pool and a bath ball. They may

also be present in mattresses, insoles and several types of plastic toy,

including dolls.

According to Bridges, professor of toxicology and environmental health at the

University of Surrey, the discovery of organotins in cycling shorts is

particularly worrying. The toxins are very close to the skin and could be

absorbed into the body, where they could start depleting white blood cells.

He is also anxious about the exposure to children from plastic toys. “There are

concerns that a number of toys may be put in the mouth and may be chewed for a

considerable time by the child,” he said.

He pointed that there were huge uncertainties over how toxic the chemicals were,

and the levels to which people were exposed. There was a need to assess the

additive effect of increasing exposure from a variety of different sources, as

well as the cumulative impact of long-term exposure.

It was vital to find out more about the risks as soon as possible, Bridges

stressed. “We are suggesting to the commission that they need to respond rather

promptly.”

Alarms bells about organotins were first rung when they were suspected of

migrating from silicone-impregnated baking paper to cookies. But the baking

paper has been withdrawn, and both Bridges and the industry expect other

products to follow.

European ministers are currently considering a new set of rules proposed by the

EC for limiting human exposure to thousands of manufactured chemicals. But the

proposals are being fiercely opposed by the chemical industry, which claims they

could cause factory closures and widespread unemployment.

Environmental groups, however, want the EC to take a tougher approach, and ban

chemicals like organotins where there is evidence of harm. “Our current campaign

to strengthen proposed European rules aims to get these chemicals out of the

environment and out of our homes for good,” said Dr Richard Dixon, head of

policy with WWF Scotland.

“People will be surprised that yet more everyday products contain chemicals now

thought to be dangerous. This is particularly alarming given that these

organotins are in products for young children.”

Dixon accused chemical companies of using “biased and incomplete” reports in

their determination to keep on using dangerous substances. “We have allowed the

chemical industry to conduct a global experiment on us and the environment for

more than a century,” he declared.

“Any new system must reverse the burden of proof so chemicals can only be used

after comprehensive testing. This would be much better than the ludicrous system

we currently have where we continue to allow a compound to be used until we are

100% sure that it is bad for us.”

The government’s green watchdog, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency

(SEPA), is particularly worried about the impact of organotins on rivers, lochs

and the sea. One of the most well-known of the compounds, tributyltin, has been

used for painting boats to keep off barnacles, though it is now being phased

out.

“SEPA has long been, and still is, concerned about the levels of organotins,

especially tributyltin, which is recognised as one of the most damaging and

widespread pollutants in the marine environment,” said the manager of SEPA’s

ecotoxicology unit, Dr John Redshaw.

“SEPA regulates all significant discharges to the sea and the removal of

tributyltin from ships in dockyards, to ensure as little as possible enters the

water. We also conduct extensive surveys of the biological and chemical quality

of fresh and saline waters throughout Scotland.”

The organotin industry, however, insisted that there was no need for consumers

to be worried. The analysis of the EC scientists was “questionable”, it said,

because they had highlighted “a theoretical situation which is not reflected by

products on the market”.

There are eight producers of organotins in Europe, which are represented by the

European Tin Stabilisers Association in Brussels. They include Atofina and Rohm

& Hass in France, as well as Baerlocher and Crompton in Germany.

According to the association’s spokeswoman, Dr Brigitte Dero, there was “not

much” organotin in toys. “We believe there is no problem with children’s toys,”

she told the Sunday Herald. “On the issue of baking papers, there is a not a

problem, because silicone producers removed organotins from baking papers last

year. This was not because there was a risk, but because it was easier to use

other products.”

She said that the industry would be publishing a report on the use of organotins

next month “which should answer the questions once and for all”. The industry

was confident it would fill the information gaps and confirm that the chemicals

were safe for human health and the environment.

But this is unlikely to satisfy environmentalists, who are planning to step up

pressure on the EC to tighten controls on hazardous chemicals. “Organotins are

yet another example of toxic chemicals that the public are exposed to on an

everyday basis,” argued Dr Dan Barlow, head of research for Friends of the Earth

Scotland.

“The forthcoming European chemical legislation must ensure that human health is

no longer compromised by the use of dangerous chemicals. Attempts by business

groups to resist strong legislation must be resisted.”

For the EC’s senior expert, James Bridges, though, there is one potential sting

in the tail. If more organotins are withdrawn, what will companies put in their

place? “My worry is that they will replace them with something worse, about

which we know even less,” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2003 smg sunday newspapers ltd. no.176088

 

 

 

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