IN THE OFFICE
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers(PBDEs)
Like the PCBs of an earlier generation, a new persistent pollutant is showing up everywhere, from the blubber of killer whales in the Pacific Northwest to human breast milk in the Arctic. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used as fire retardants in foam mattresses and furniture as well as in plastic housings for computer equipment. Banned in Europe, the North America market now accounts for half of the world’s consumption of PBDEs. Invisible predators, PBDEs are now found throughout our environment, from computer dust to falcon eggs.
Everything in nature goes somewhere — as garbage breaks down, toxins leach into our streams, rivers, lakes and oceans">Photo: WCWC files.
In fact, since their introduction in the 1970s, PBDE levels have doubled in North America every four to five years and are now an astounding 10 to 70 times higher than levels in Europe. In Vancouver, between 1992 and 2002, PBDE concentrations in breast milk rose 10 fold, while in a similar time span concentrations in white fish in the BC portion of the Columbia River increased 12 fold.(4) Environment Canada estimates that by 2005, there will be 67,000 tonnes of e-waste — and the resulting tonnes of PBDEs as well as cadmium, mercury and lead — in landfills across Canada, will add enormously to the toxic load in the environment. It’s time for Canada to follow Europe’s lead and take strong steps to curb the use of toxic chemicals and ban PBDEs.
