Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
Optional Resources
Online Resources
"The Chemical Papers: Secrets of
the Chemical Industry Exposed," "The Dioxin Deception,"
"Tainted History," Richard
Raeke, Anniston (AL) Star News, 10 December 2000 -- How Monsanto polluted a
community with highly-toxic PCBs.
"Children In Harm's Way,"
Rachel Massey, Rachel's Environment & Health News #712, 23 November 2000 --
"A new report by a group of physicians says that millions of children in the U.S.
exhibit learning disabilities, reduced IQ and destructive, aggressive behavior because of
exposures to toxic chemicals."
"The
American People's Dioxin Report; America's Choice-- Children's Health or Corporate
Profit," Center for Health, Environment and Justice, November 1999 [Technical Support Document]
-- Very important info on Dioxin.
"Backyard Burning Identified As
Potential Major Source Of Dioxins," ScienceDaily, 4 January 2000 (adapted from
a news release issued by American Chemical Society) -- "A family of four burning
trash in a barrel in their backyard can potentially put as much dioxin and furan into the
air as a well-controlled municipal waste incinerator serving tens of thousands of
households."
"Report Estimates $100 Million in Lost Fishing Opportunities Due to Green Bay
and Fox River Fish Consumption Advisories," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Great
Lakes-Big Rivers Region, news release, 8 November 1999 -- For decades every species of
sport fish in the Lower Fox River and all of Green Bay have had fish consumption
advisories for PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).
Lower Fox River Clean-up and Restoration, web site by U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency -- Wide variety of information, updated frequently.
"Point/Counterpoint: Setting the Record Straight on the Lower Fox River
[Wisconsin]," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, January 2000 -- "PCB
water levels at the mouth of the Lower Fox River have not declined from 1989 to 1995 and
are from 100 to 10,000 times greater than safe levels set by the State to protect human
and ecological health."
"Chemicals and the Environment: Managing Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs)," Chlorine Chemistry Council� --
"The chemical industry recognizes the potential risks posed by POPs and is committed
to working with governments and international health organizations to reduce the human
health and environmental risks that may be associated with them in the industry's
products, by-products and wastes."
"Trichloroethylene (TCE)," U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry,
September 1997
"Trichloroethylene (TCE)," Lakes Environmental Software, December
1999 -- Extensive fact sheet.
"Trichloroethylene (TCE)," Chemical Profile, ChemExpo, 8 December
1997 -- Includes info about producers, demand, price and trends.
"Trichloroethylene (TCE)," Canadian Centre for
Occupational Health and Safety, February 2000
"Close to home: The 10 most dangerous toxins in your house," Claude Morgan,
Environmental News Network, 14 January 1999
"Diet Drinks Suspected for Increasing Brain Cancer Risk" -- Increased
brain cancer rates are at least partially suspected to be caused by the diet drink
sweetener aspartame (also known as Nutra-Sweet), according to
research by scientists at Washington University, published in the Journal of
Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology (1996, v. 55, n. 11, p. 1115-23).
"FDA Stonewalling on Sweetener [aspartame or Nutra-Sweet],
Activists Say." Lucy Chubb, Environmental News Network, 19 October 1999 -- Aspartame
consumption may constitute a hazard because of its contribution to the formation of
formaldehyde, which is a breakdown product of methanol, one of the components of the
artificial sweetener.
"42 Million Americans Use Groundwater Vulnerable to Contamination by Volatile Organic
Compounds," Science Daily, 29 October 1999 (story adapted from an American Chemical
Society news release) -- "Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey estimate that
42 million Americans use groundwater vulnerable to low-level contamination by volatile
organic compounds (VOCs). The estimate is based on the first nationwide assessment of
untreated groundwater aquifers."
"Corporate PCB Study Wrong, say Scientists," Danielle Knight, InterPress
Third World News Agency (IPS), 13 April 1999 (posted by Hoosier Environmental Council) --
Disputes a published study that claims PCBs are not a cause of cancer. "The hotly-
contested research was funded by the General Electric Corporation (GE), which currently
faces multi-million dollar civil suits over the health effects caused by the US-based
company's past dumping of mass amounts of PCBs into rivers in the state of New York."
"U.S. says GE agrees to $250 million PCB cleanup," Reuters News Service, 8
October 1999 -- According to the U.S. Justice Department, General Electric Co. has agreed
to pay more than $250 million to clean up pollution in the Housatonic River near its plant
in Pittsfield, Mass., in a settlement of claims that the plant polluted the river with
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
"Fabric Softeners: Health Risks from Dryer Exhaust and Treated Fabrics," Hoosier
Environmental Council, July 1999 -- Chemicals found in fabric softeners/dryer sheets. Some
are known to damage the central nervous system and some cause cancer, some others are
narcotics.
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -- Access to data
reported by industry
"Dioxin in Vietnam," Ron Moreau, Newsweek, 3 May 1999 (posted by
Hoosier Environmental Council) -- The probable-- but unprovable-- injurious effects of
dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange, which was massively sprayed in Southeast Asia by the
U.S.
"Dioxin and Precaution," Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly #653, 3 June
1999 (alternate
site)
"Dioxin: 20 Questions and Answers," Chlorine Chemistry Council (CCC), January 1997 -- Chemistry industry trade
group attempts to greenwash dioxin, including:
"U.S. study establishes link between dioxin and cancer," Perla Astudillo, World
Socialist Web Site, 1 June 1999 -- "A recent study published in the journal of the US
National Cancer institute provided conclusive evidence of the direct relationship between
industry and the cancer-causing effects of the chemical dioxin."
"A Civil Action" Website, The Berkman Center for Internet and Society,
Harvard Law School -- a variety of resources for research related to the Woburn case.
which was portrayed in the film, A Civil Action.
Toxic Chemicals and Profits at any Cost, Liberty Australia
"Persistent Organic Pollutants Pervade Asia," Frederick Noronha, Environmental
News Service, 23 November 1998
"Chemicals in the Environment: OPPT Chemical Fact Sheets," Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
ToxFAQs, U.S. Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry -- Alphabetical index of answers to the most frequently asked questions (FAQs)
about exposure to hazardous substances found around hazardous waste sites and the effects
of exposure on human health.
Review of Toxic Deception; How the Chemical Industry Manipulates
Science, Bends the Law, and Threatens Your Health, a 1997 book by Dan Fagin, Marianne
Lavelle and the Center for Public Integrity (Birch Lane Press)
"The Toxic Substances Control Act," Peter Montague, Rachel's Environment
& Health Weekly #564, 18 September 1997 -- More than 20 years after Congress
passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), "even the most basic toxicity testing
results cannot be found in the public record for nearly 75% of the top-volume chemicals in
commercial use."
Chemical
Injury Information Network -- extensive links to human juries from various chemicals
"Southeast
Asia: Toxics in, Pollution Out," Solid Waste Online, 27 August 1998 --
"Developing countries with lax ecology rules and cheap labor have become magnets for
waste in search of a country."
"Dow Chemical Multiple Personalities: Front Groups; The Corporate Imbalance
Sheet," from INFACT
Persistent Organic Pollutants, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
International POPs Elimination Network, Home Page
"Provisional Background Statement and POPS Elimination Platform," International
POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) and Physicians for Social Responsibility, October 1998.
"The Chemical Scorecard," provided by the Environmental Defense Fund -- Lets you
locate the chemical polluters in your community and learn about the pollutants and their
effects.
PCBs and Intellectual Impairment, Feb. 1997
The Cancer Business," by Monte Paulsen, Mother Jones, May-June 1994 -- The
same companies that profit from breast cancer treatments also manufacture cancer-causing
toxins.
"Are Chemicals Killing Whales? WWF Report Details Threats to Marine Mammals from
Persistent Organic Pollutants," World Wildlife Fund, May 1998.
"Revolt Against the Empire; Welcome to the Great Boycott," by Jon Rappoport,
April 1998 -- "This is a boycott against the eight biggest pesticide companies in the
world, ...a boycott against the power and against a way of life represented by all the
gigantic multinational corporations, which every day extend their control over the
planet."
"Monsanto in the McSpotlight," August 1997. ("Most of the information taken
from Jon Rappoport's 'Revolt Against the Empire' and Rachel's Environment & Health
Weekly") -- The Monsanto company employs about 45,000 people and peddles over
eight billion dollars a year in chemical products all over the world.
"Poisons for Profit: The Great Boycott" -- reprint of an article which appeared
in Whole Life Times, March 1997
Chemical
Manufacturers Association, Home Page
"What Is Dioxin?" by Toxic Alert
"Who is Who in The Poison 'Industry,'" Steve Tvedten, 1997 -- wide-ranging,
outspoken, provocative
"Carcinogen Profile: Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs)," by Sharan Campleman, Prop
65 News, September 1994, Vol. 8, No. 9 -- "The downfall of PBBs began in 1973
after the poisoning of Michigan farm livestock by PBB-contaminated animal feed."
"The Alar Rebellion of 1989," Peter Montague, Rachel's Environment &
Health Weekly #535, 2 February 1997 -- "In the U.S. in 1989, an angry public
forced an end to the use of Alar on apples, an event that should go down in history as the
Alar Rebellion, not the Alar Scare. Alar is a growth-regulating hormone manufactured by
Uniroyal corporation. The story of Alar is one of only a few small victories for
democratic government that we can recall at the national level in the late-20th-century
U.S."
Toxic Temptation; The Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund Program, by
Eric J. Greenberg, 1995, The Center for Public Integrity -- Detailed investigative report,
including the passage of EPA/ industry officials back and forth through the
"revolving door."
"Union Carbide," Corporate Watch -- much information about the Union
Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India; the gist: "On the midnight of 2nd - 3rd
December 1984, the worst industrial disaster of this century was caused by Union Carbide
Corporation in Bhopal, a city with about one million people. Over 40 tonnes of Methyl
Isocyanate and other lethal gases including hydrogen cyanide, leaked from Carbide's
pesticide factory in the northern end of the city killing over 8,000 people in its
immediate aftermath and causing multisystemic injuries to over 500,000 people."
"Remember Bhopal," Corporate Watch -- Bhopal "demonstrated how
corporations like Carbide practice double standards by lowering safety precautions in the
Third World. It also, unfortunately showed the world how transnationals like Union Carbide
can literally get away with murder."
"Bhopal" -- much information about Union Carbide's poisoning of Bhopal,
India, in 1984 and the aftermath
Regarding the
National Peach Council and DBCP
"Dow Brand Dioxin," edited by Jack Weinberg, Greenpeace, 1995
"Clean computer chips taking toll?" by Jim Morris, Houston Chronicle,
27 September 1998 -- "Chemicals in dust-free rooms protect product, not
necessarily people.
"An NPR Report on Dioxin: How 'Neutral' Experts Can Slant a Story," Charlotte
Ryan; from "A Study of National Public Radio" in EXTRA! April/May 1993.
On March 8, 1996, Carol Browner, U.S. EPA Administrator, signed the final rule to allow
importation of PCBs into the U.S. from Mexico & Canada: "...The final PCB import
rule will have several positive economic impacts. PCB waste management companies indicated
that the rule will boost their industry and create jobs in the United States..."
"Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs)," ToxFAQs, U.S. Public
Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, September 1996.
Print Resources
Chen, Edwin. 1979. PBB, An American Tragedy.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 329 pp. [in UWSP libr.]
Egginton, Joyce. 1980. The Poisoning of
Michigan. New York: W. W. Norton. 351 pp. [in UWSP libr.]
Epstein, Samuel. 1978. The Politics of Cancer.
Sierra Club Books. [in UWSP libr.]
Gibbs, Lois M., and the Citizens Clearinghouse for
Hazardous Waste. 1995. Dying From Dioxin; A Citizen’s Guide to Reclaiming
Our Health and Rebuilding Democracy. Boston: South End Press. 361 pp. [in UWSP
libr.]
Hills, Stuart L., ed. 1987. Corporate Violence;
Injury and Death for Profit. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Littlefield. 213 pp. [in
UWSP libr.]
Jones, Tara. 1988. Corporate Killing; Bhopals
Will Happen. London: Free Association Books. 336 pp.
Nader, Ralph, et al., editors. 1981. Who's
Poisoning America; Corporate Polluters and Their Victims in the Chemical Age. San
Francisco: Sierra Club Books. 369 pp. [in UWSP libr.]
Steingraber, Sandra. 1997. Living Downstream:
An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment. (Reprint ed. 1998) Reading,
Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley -- Deals comprehensively with the growing body of evidence
linking cancer to environmental contamination. (about
the book) (Review
by Joanne Laurier, May 1999)
Steinman, David, and Samuel S. Epstein. 1995. The Safe
Shopper’s Bible; A Consumer’s Guide to Nontoxic Household Products, Cosmetics,
and Food. New York: Macmillan. [in UWSP libr.]
Thornton, Joe. 2000. Pandora's Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental
Strategy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. -- Argues that chlorine and the organochlorine
chemicals made from it pose a global health and environmental threat. (about
the book) (Review by Russell
Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, February 2000)
Wargo, John. 1998. Our Children’s Toxic
Legacy. Second ed. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press. (about
the book)
Thomas Detwyler maintains this page (tdetwyle@uwsp.edu)
Last updated 5 April 2001
� Copyright 1998-2001 by Thomas Detwyler