Chemical Policy Reform
M8.4: Chemical Policy Reform
I choose a Background Paper describing the "Safe Substitutes and Solutions" for hazardous chemicals. And it outlines what you might already expect, that there is limited, if any, regulation about what chemical are actually being "substituted" with the other hazardous chemicals, and that the "substituted" chemical may just be a different chemical with the same hazardous level, or they may be just a more diluted version of the previous chemical.
What I also found really interesting about the background research is that they specifically called out the power that "halogenated chemical producers and others within the American Chemical Society" really have over the legislation that is passed for these chemicals use within the public. I think that it is crazy to see that, as a country, we are more obsessed with capitalistic tendencies and less focused on health of the entirety of our population. It is not like there is not science out there that goes into detail about the level of risk with these specific compounds.
I additionally found it really interesting that the background paper talked about the complete replacement of hazardous chemicals with natural alternatives, but did not talk about the proper utility of getting rid of the hazardous chemicals, just that they need to be gotten rid of. However, as we have seen through our research of superfund sites, as well as in the previous videos of this module, just merely getting rid of a chemical compound could still cause environmental and health risks. How, where, and with what procedures would these chemicals be disposed of and how will we ensure that process is safe for the public and the environment.
I choose a Background Paper describing the "Safe Substitutes and Solutions" for hazardous chemicals. And it outlines what you might already expect, that there is limited, if any, regulation about what chemical are actually being "substituted" with the other hazardous chemicals, and that the "substituted" chemical may just be a different chemical with the same hazardous level, or they may be just a more diluted version of the previous chemical.
What I also found really interesting about the background research is that they specifically called out the power that "halogenated chemical producers and others within the American Chemical Society" really have over the legislation that is passed for these chemicals use within the public. I think that it is crazy to see that, as a country, we are more obsessed with capitalistic tendencies and less focused on health of the entirety of our population. It is not like there is not science out there that goes into detail about the level of risk with these specific compounds.
I additionally found it really interesting that the background paper talked about the complete replacement of hazardous chemicals with natural alternatives, but did not talk about the proper utility of getting rid of the hazardous chemicals, just that they need to be gotten rid of. However, as we have seen through our research of superfund sites, as well as in the previous videos of this module, just merely getting rid of a chemical compound could still cause environmental and health risks. How, where, and with what procedures would these chemicals be disposed of and how will we ensure that process is safe for the public and the environment.
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