Activists urge tighter plasticizer controls

Taipei Times ; Jun 10, 2011Environmental groups, academics and victims of plasticizer-contaminated products yesterday urged the government to impose stricter regulations on plasticizers by making them a category-one toxic substance. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said that only manufacturers with deep pockets could afford to inspect all of their products, while small vendors and the public could only become the victims. Joining the group at the legislature, a juice vendor from Yilan County surnamed Huang (黃) said he had been selling drinks for more than 10 years, but the exposure of potentially harmful chemicals in food additives had caused a dramatic drop in sales of about 90 percent. "I used to have a good reputation with the neighbors, but now they are afraid to come after learning of the plasticizer incidents," Huang said. "I feel bad for doing harm to my neighbors, but I have nowhere to ask for help." The government should control the sources of plasticizers, Tien said, adding that a mechanism akin to the EU's Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH) should be adopted in Taiwan to control the use of the substances.  Holding up a bottle of dioxin-polluted dirt collected at the mouth of the Dadu River (大肚溪), Wu Jen-pang (吳仁邦) of Tainan Community University said dioxins and toxic heavy metal pollutants would not be so easy to acquire if the government enforced stricter regulations to control them at source. Wu Kuen-Yuh (吳焜裕), a professor at National Taiwan University's Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, called on government agencies to hire more officials with a background in toxicology to control the growing number of chemical substances used in various products. In addition, Herlin Hsieh (謝和霖) of the Taiwan Watch Institute said the government should ban polyvinyl chloride and polyvinylidene chloride packaging, which is still often used in plastic wrap to keep food fresh. A ban on using the substances in household plastic wrapping has been passed by the legislature, but amendments proposed by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) will have to wait until 2013 to be implemented and commercial-use wrapping will be excluded from the regulations, Hsieh said. During a press conference in the afternoon, the EPA announced that seven types of plasticizers, including di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, would be added to the list of category-one substances (substances that are not readily degraded and that are likely to bioaccumulate and pollute the environment or endanger human health) and category-two substances (substances with carcinogens or affecting fertility) under the Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act (毒性化學物質管理法), while eight would be added to the list of category-four substances (chemical substances that may pollute the environment or endanger human health). The official announcement followed a meeting by specialists at the EPA's Toxic Chemical Substance Consulting Committee on June 1. The EPA said a decision had been made concerning a REACH-type mechanism and that following an official announcement, manufacturers would have a grace period of up to one-and-a-half years to adapt to the new policies. The EPA will hold a public hearing in the near future to gather more opinions before drafting an amendment to the regulations.