Number: 1993-02
WHEREAS, people, terrestrial and aquatic wildlife that eat aquatic organisms from North American waters face a wide range of health risks from toxic pollutants, especially those chemicals that are persistent and that bioaccumulate in the food chain; and
WHEREAS, many of the most significant bioaccumulation cases have occurred in aquatic based food chains and the EPA presently regulates release of toxic substances into water through the Clean Water Act; and
WHEREAS, some of these pollutants singly or combined with other pollutants produce allergies, cancer, behavioral dysfunction, reproductive and developmental dysfunctions, immune deficiencies, endocrine disruption and other mental and physical disorders, in the individuals that are exposed to them; and
WHEREAS, human populations that are especially at risk from these toxic chemicals in North America include children, women of childbearing age, Native Americans and other groups who frequently eat fish for subsistence or cultural reasons, and sport anglers who frequently eat their catch. Also at risk are wildlife populations, including birds and predatory fish; and, new research shows that the greatest health risks may be to the offspring of exposed individuals; and
WHEREAS, state and federal laws to regulate toxic chemicals have met with limited success, and despite reduced concentrations of compounds in some regions, current levels of many compounds in air, water, and the tissue of people and fish remain high enough to damage long term human and ecosystem health; and
WHEREAS, scientists and government agencies have documented the following problems from toxic chemicals found in the environment:
- A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) database indicates that health warnings or bans on eating fish are in place on over 4,000 bodies of water in 46 of the 50 states;
- Populations of bald eagles, mink, otter, turtles, cormorants, herring gulls, ring-billed gulls, common terns, Forster’s terns and other species which are ecologically linked to polluted waters in North America may suffer from one or more of the following problems: mortality, egg-shell thinning, twisted beaks and other deformities, and behavioral problems;
- Certain chemicals are known to interrupt the endocrine system in people and wildlife by mimicking estrogen and testosterone, or by blocking these hormones from performing their normal functions in the body. As a result, male herring gulls in Lake Ontario colonies may behave like females, and female herring gulls may attempt to pair with females. Some mink from other parts of the Great Lakes are born with both male and female sexual organs; and
- Children born to women who ate moderate to high amounts of contaminated Lake Michigan fish perform significantly worse on tests of their visual and verbal memory skills; and
WHEREAS, the chemicals responsible for these problems including PCBs, mercury, dioxin (2,3,7,8 TCDD), DDT, Aldrin, Toxaphene and Myrex are all highly toxic and have a high potential to accumulate in the tissue of living organisms; and
WHEREAS, U.S. laws and regulations to control these chemicals are of limited effectiveness because they allow continued discharges; they attempt to capture and treat residual levels of pollutants after the wastes have been created instead of preventing pollution; and, they often result in shifting of pollutant discharges from one medium such as water, to another medium, such as air or land; and
WHEREAS, the President’s Council on Environmental Quality concluded in 1990 that the only government programs in the Great Lakes region that have been truly successful are those where chemical production and use was banned outright or severely restricted; and
WHEREAS, the International Joint Commission has recommended for the most dangerous chemicals adherence to the policy of “zero discharge,” which can be accomplished through “sunsetting” or phasing out uses, according to a timetable;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 11-14, 1993, in Crystal City, Virginia, recommends that government laws and programs to control toxic pollution be reformed to emphasize pollution prevention, toxic use reduction, and life cycle analysis for all toxic substances and the sunsetting of those which have the greatest potential to harm human and ecosystem health; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation recommends that the Clean Water Act be amended to authorize and require the EPA to establish timetables to eliminate the discharge of PCBs, mercury, dioxin and other chemicals that are highly toxic or have a high potential to accumulate in the food chain; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation challenges North American companies that use or manufacture toxic chemicals to voluntarily reduce chemical use, sunset the most dangerous chemicals they manufacture and share their pollution prevention strategies and chemical substitution techniques with customers, suppliers and other companies; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation encourages governments to conduct an education program to inform citizens, industries and other users of toxic chemicals of the unique health risks posed by persistent chemicals that accumulate in the food chain and the need to phaseout, or sunset, uses of the most dangerous compounds. This program should promote the use of alternatives to highly toxic and interactive chemicals like mercury in paint and batteries, and chlorine in the pulping and bleaching of paper.