Do you think our county tax dollars should be used to purchase healthy products?

Contact our County Legislature directly at
CountyLegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us,
CountyLegislature@co.dutchess.ny.us, or 486-2100.

Thanks.

Joel Tyner
County Legislator
324 Browns Pond Road
Staatsburg, NY 12580
joeltyner@earthlink.net
876-2488

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[I submitted this resolution below the morning of November 15th.]

USE OUR COUNTY TAX DOLLARS TO PURCHASE HEALTHY, PBT-FREE PRODUCTS

WHEREAS, resolutions have been passed in Erie County, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, and the states of Washington, Oregon, and New Hampshire to eliminate and reduce exposure to dangerous persistent bioaccumulative toxins (PBT's) like dioxin, lead, and mercury, and

WHEREAS, last year Buffalo sensibly decided to phase out purchase of PVC office supplies and building materials, para-dichlorobenzene-containing urinal deodorizing blocks, and mercury-containing thermostats, and therefore be it

WHEREAS, the New York City Council is also moving towards reducing purchase of dioxin-creating products like vinyl and PVC pipes and plastic bags, switching to less toxic cleaning products, and buying products with higher recycled content; PVC plastic bags may create dioxin when incinerated as waste, and

WHEREAS, Erie County identified safer urinal blocks that avoid the use of paradichlorobenzene; they then tested two alternatives in a high-traffic office building, library, and park; the results led Erie County to revise its janitorial contract to offer only "non-para" products, leading to two thousand pounds less use of paradichlorobenzene annually, and

WHEREAS, as a result of Massachusetts purchasing specs, now only mercury-free products are available on the state's medical equipment contract, and

WHEREAS, the University of Minnesota has solicited bids for low-mercury fluorescents and high-pressure sodium lamps; they selected a vendor that will stock only low-mercury lamps where such applications exist, and

WHEREAS, toxic chemicals found in many cleaning products can jeopardize the health of janitorial workers and other building occupants; several states and local governments have found that switching to "greener cleaners" has improved indoor air quality, reduced complaints among janitorial staff and even saved them money, and

WHEREAS, the American Nurses Association passed resolutions addressing this issue in 1997, and again in 2001; the American Public Health Association in 1996, and

WHEREAS, such resolutions are designed to prevent the use of a class of toxins, which includes mercury and lead, that can never be safely used because they persist in the environment indefinitely and accumulate in the food chain; through four years of research, INFORM has found that there are a surprising number of commercially available products that are PBT-free; more and more PBT- free products are being developed as manufacturers recognize a growing demand, and

WHEREAS, more than 90\% of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals (PBTs) such as mercury, lead, and dioxins are leaving factories not as waste but in consumer and industrial products; PBTs are extremely harmful materials that have been connected with various types of cancer, reproductive problems and neurological disorders, according to New York-based INFORM, and

WHEREAS, INFORM has helped many municipalities across the country address the chemicals listed in an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) document called the "Draft RCRA Waste Minimization List of Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic Chemicals," published in November 1998; the EPA has announced its intention to use this list to focus attention on these chemicals, in order to reduce their presence in hazardous waste by 50 percent by 2005, and

WHEREAS, many of the products we use everyday such as electronic goods, furniture, clothing, and cleaning products contain PBTs, which we are exposed to during the production, use and disposal of the product's life cycle; INFORM has been working with state and local governments to develop environmentally friendly procurement practices whereby governments prioritize PBT-free products; INFORM has developed product information for the following categories: Building Construction and Maintenance Departments, Public Works Departments and Vehicle Maintenance Facilities, Mercury-Containing Products and Alternatives, and

WHEREAS, INFORM has found safer alternatives to mercury-containing thermometers, manometers, thermostats, and switches, paradichlorobenzene-containing urinal deodorizing blocks, high-mercury fluorescent lighting, computers, and other electronic equipment, various janitorial disinfecting agents used to clean office buildings, most wood preservatives, some brands of architectural paints and finishes, petroleum-based printing inks and heavy-metal pigments, lindane (gamma hexachlorocyclohexane-- a powerful neurotoxin used to treat lice and scabies that accumulates in the environment and in living things), chlorine-bleached paper products, and several chlorinated organic pesticides that still remain in use, and

RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature hereby calls on our county's Departments of Public Works and Central Services to phase out the purchase and use of products that contain persistent bioaccumulative toxins like lead or mercury, vinyl/PVC pipes or building materials, and toxic cleaning products, aradichlorobenzene-containing urinal deodorizing blocks, most wood preservatives, some brands of architectural paints and finishes, petroleum-based printing inks and heavy-metal pigments, lindane, chlorine-bleached paper products, and various chlorinated organic pesticides, and be it further

RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to County Executive
William Steinhaus, Public Works Commissioner Michael Murphy, Central Services/Purchasing Commissioner Donald Miller, and Health Commissioner Dr. Michael Caldwell.

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Citizens' Environmental Coalition 12/29/04 Press Release

[Information: Mike Schade, CEC, 716-885-6848 716-698-9951 (cell)]

City of Buffalo Passes Resolution to Reduce the Purchase of Toxic Products:
Buffalo is First City in New York to Adopt Purchasing Policy to
Reduce World's Worst Toxic Chemicals
(see www.chej.org/PBTNYPR.htm)

(Buffalo, NY) Yesterday the City of Buffalo Common Council passed a
resolution to reduce the purchase and use of products containing
Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic chemicals (PBTs), during their
manufacture and/or disposal. The resolution, introduced by Masten
District Councilmember Antoine Thompson, seeks to develop and
implement purchasing practices for the City of Buffalo that favor
products that do not create PBTs. Products containing and releasing
PBTs include PVC office supplies and building materials,
Para-dichlorobenzene-containing urinal deodorizing blocks, and
Mercury-containing thermostats. This resolution is the first of
its kind in New York to address the purchase and use of products
containing PBTs by a City.

"We commend Councilmember Thompson and all the members of the Buffalo Common Council for passing this precedent-setting policy to protect human health and the environment from dangerous toxic chemicals," said Mike Schade, Western New York Director of Citizens'
Environmental Coalition. "Buffalo has now become the first City in
New York to take steps to prevent PBT pollution and build markets for
safer products."

"I am proud to sponsor the PBT-Free Purchasing Resolution which will
go a long way in protecting Buffalo residents from toxic chemical
exposure," said Masten District Councilmember Antoine Thompson, lead sponsor of the PBT-Free Purchasing Resolution. "This resolution
demonstrates the City's commitment to ensuring a healthy and safe
environment for generations to come."

"I'm proud the Council is taking steps to protect the environment and
public health through PBT-free purchasing," said Lovejoy District
Councilmember Richard Fontana,

PBT pollutants are chemicals that are toxic, persist in the
environment and bioaccumulate in food chains and, thus, pose risks to
human health and the environment. Health impacts of PBTs include
reproductive disorders, cancer, birth defects, declines in wildlife
populations, hormone disruption, learning disabilities, and other
health problems. PBTs are passed to children in the womb and through breastfeeding, impacting them at the most vulnerable time of their lives.

"Buffalo Common Council again shows it's environmental leadership by passing this new purchasing policy," said Joseph Gardella, member of the Buffalo Environmental Management Commission, Buffalo Pest Management Board, Sierra Club Niagara Group and St. Joseph University Parish Social Justice Committee. "The Buffalo EMC stands ready to help identify resources from UB and other places to implement a simple purchasing plan. In the midst of a difficult financial
situation for the City, the Council has shown that environmental
programs do not have to compromise good financial sense, it is the
best type of sustainable City operation"

The passage of this resolution comes on the heels of a December 21st City of Buffalo Legislation Committee meeting, where the resolution was discussed and voted out of committee. Buffalo area residents testifying at the meeting in support of the resolution included Mike Schade from Citizens' Environmental Coalition, Joseph Gardella from the Buffalo Environmental Management Commission, Buffalo Pest Management Board, Sierra Club Niagara Group and St. Joseph University Parish Social Justice Committee, Bonnie Lawrence from the Erie County Department of Environment and Planning, Rachel Heckl from Great Lakes United and Phil Urban from the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Over 20 organizations supported the Buffalo PBT-Free Purchasing
resolution, including health organizations such as the Learning
Disabilities Association of WNY, environmental groups such as NYPIRG, Great Lakes United, and Friends of the Buffalo Niagara Rivers, labor groups such as the Coalition for Economic Justice, and the Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health, and civic organizations such as the League of Women Voters of Buffalo Niagara and Citizen Action.

"The City of Buffalo's purchasing of green, healthy materials that do
not contain any PBT chemicals will be a great investment in the
future health of our residents and our total environment," said Ellen
Neumaier, Natural Resources Chair of the League of Women Voters of
Buffalo / Niagara. "It will save enormous amounts of money in the
future by preventing health problems and the need for environmental
remediation."

The Erie County Department of Environment and Planning, cities of
Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, and Oakland, as well as the states of
Washington, Oregon and New Hampshire, have all established laws,
policies, and/or initiatives to eliminate and reduce certain PBTs
such as dioxin.

"The passage of the PBT resolution is a great way for Buffalo to
start a new year!" said Cameron S. Lory, Chemical Hazards Prevention
Project Coordinator for INFORM. "This resolution is designed to
prevent the use of a class of toxins, which includes mercury and
lead, that can never be safely used because they persist in the
environment indefinitely and accumulate in the food chain. Through 4
years of research, INFORM has found that there are a surprising
number of commercially available products that are PBT free. More
and more PBT free products are being developed as manufacturers
recognize a growing demand."

"We thank the Buffalo Common Council for doing the right thing for
working families by passing this important worker-safety and
environmental health initiative," said Maria Whyte, Executive
Director of the Coalition for Economic Justice / Jobs With Justice.
"PBT related illness results in sick days and lost wages for workers.
Health care, if available at all, is often not sufficient enough to
cover the necessary treatments."

PBT pollution is a serious problem in WNY as there are a number of
hazardous waste sites and waterways in the Buffalo-Niagara region
contaminated with PBTs. The New York State Department of Health has issued almost 100 fish consumption advisories for waterbodies across New York State due to PBT pollution, including advisories for the Buffalo River and Harbor, Hoyt Lake, the Niagara River, and Lake Erie.

"We commend the Buffalo Common Council for passing this initiative as it will reduce the purchase of products in the City that may be
asthma triggers," said Victoria McLaughlin of the West Side Community
Asthma Project. "Prescription costs, doctors' fees, lost wages due
to time off from work for parents of asthmatic children, and the
un-quantifiable cost of school absenteeism add up to a hefty burden
for families and society from asthma. By switching to safer products
we could be offering a child the priceless gift of easy breathing."

"This resolution will help remedy environmental justice problems, as
many products that contain or release PBT chemicals are produced in
low-income and/or communities of color," said Judith Anderson,
Community Health Coordinator of the Toxic Waste / Lupus Coalition.
"For example in the US, PVC is manufactured predominantly near
low-income communities in Texas and Louisiana."

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More information:

InformInc.org
ChildEnvironment.org
PBS.org/TradeSecrets
OurStolenFuture.org
PreventingHarm.org
EPA.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/minimize/chemlist.htm
SafeAlternatives.org/modelpolicies2.html
SafeAlternatives.org/REACH.html
NoHarm.org/pvcDehp/reducingPVC
SpeakUpwny.com/article_1732.shtml
CleanProduction.org/Procurement/proc_camp.htm
DailyFreePress.com/media/paper87/news/2003/10/24/News/Council.Debates.Waste-538428.shtml
HealthyBuilding.net/pdf/municipal_purchasing/BostonDioxinResolution.pdf
HealthyTomorrow.org/safer_ma.htm
Assembly.State.NY.us/leg/?bn=A07257

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"Avoiding Everyday Toxins" by Marco Visscher
Alternet.org/envirohealth/28115/

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"Products Can Harbor Hazards" by Ann LaGoy [Poughkeepsie Journal 10/16/05]
PoughkeepsieJournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051016/NEWS04/51014003/1008/NEWS04

Household products intended to make our lives easier have a life
cycle and a negative impact all their own. From manufacture, to use,
to disposal, these products have ample opportunity to contaminate our
air, water, soil, food and bodies.

Since World War II, the United States has developed more than 85,000
chemicals for use in cleaners, plastics, personal care products and
other modern-day conveniences. More than 90 percent have never been tested for their effects on human health. Few, if any, have been
tested in combination. Approximately 1,800 new chemicals are
registered with the Environmental Protection Agency each year,
according to ''State of the Evidence,'' a report by the Breast Cancer
Fund. The nonprofit organization focuses on potential environmental
causes of breast cancer.

This proliferation of synthetic chemicals parallels the increased
incidence of many diseases. According to the Mount Sinai School of
Medicine, the number of asthma sufferers has increased 75 percent
between 1980 and 1994. For children under four, the disease has
exploded by 160 percent. An estimated 12 million U.S. children suffer
from developmental, learning or behavioral disabilities. In the last
50 years, the lifetime risk of breast cancer has more than tripled,
and the incidence rate for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has increased 30
percent for both children and adults.

Some studies link environmental contaminants to health problems, but
cause-and-effect relationships are difficult to prove, especially at
low levels associated with exposure to cleaning products.

High toxin content

New Jersey and Massachusetts, the only states requiring such data,
reported more than 1 billion pounds of more than 100 chemicals known or suspected to be neurotoxins, carcinogens, or reproductive or
developmental toxins, were included in products shipped from
manufacturing facilities in those states between 1995 and 2000. For
every 42 pounds of those toxins, one pound was released into the
environment (about 2.3 million pounds), according to ''Cabinet
Confidential,'' a report produced by the environmental group,
National Environmental Trust.

Toxic byproducts produced during manufacturing have been reduced by the landmark environmental laws of the 1970s, like the Clean Water
Act, Clean Air Act and Comprehensive Environmental Liability and
Compliance Act. However, these laws have failed to reduce all toxins
the individual consumer can be exposed to.

Humans are exposed to a complex array of hundreds, possibly
thousands, of chemicals. Studies by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention show Americans of all ages carry a body burden of
chemicals - many with at least 116 chemicals, some of which have been banned for more than two decades because of toxicity.

''Liquid bleach starts as salt water and ends as salt water,'' reads
the Clorox Bleach Web site ''Facts and myths'' section.

It's not that simple. Small amounts of organochlorines (compounds
made up of chlorine and carbon) are formed whenever chlorine bleach
is used, according to the environmental group Washington Toxics
Coalition. Organochlorines build up and are stored in fatty tissue
and fluids such as breast milk, and can be passed on to fetuses and
infants during pregnancy and lactation.

Contaminates called dioxins, evident in every human being on earth -
including newborn babies - are byproducts of the manufacture and
incineration of products containing chlorine. Studies show dioxins
are endocrine disruptors, mimick-ing, blocking and/or interfering
with the natural instructions of hormones to cells in animals.
Dioxins are suspected of doing the same in humans. The endocrine
system works closely with the nervous and immune systems: it controls growth, learning, behavior, reproduction and more.

Solvents, or inert ingredients, such as formaldehyde,
p-dichlorobenzene, cresol, phenol, hydrochloric acid, ethylene glycol
and naphthalene, are found in some common cleaning agents and air
fresheners. Manufacturers are not required by law to list these
ingredients on product labels.

Ailments may be linked

Some of these chemicals may be linked to cancer, central nervous and
respiratory system depression, cardiopulmonary effects, damage to the liver and kidneys, corrosion to the skin, eyes and mucous membranes, and alteration of how our bodies process our own naturally produced chemicals, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Does it make a difference to eliminate toxic cleaners from your home?

Consider this:

The average American home contains as much as 100 pounds of household hazardous waste at any given time. Disposal of that waste amounts to 3.36 million tons, or about 1 percent of the nation's trash,
annually. The average American uses 25 gallons of hazardous household waste every year, releasing toxic substances into their own immediate surroundings.

Solvent-based cleansers can eventually end up in, and contaminate,
drinking water. For example, the New Jersey Department of Health and
Senior Services has found volatile organic compounds such as benzene, xylene and many chlorinated solvents in drinking water. The sources of large spills often stem from industrial and commercial facilities that use large volumes of chemicals, but low levels of many
contaminants have been discovered in water supplies associated with
household use.

Massachusetts has reduced the amount of toxic chemicals released into the environment by 73 percent, from 20.6 million pounds to 5.5
million pounds, by passing the Toxics Use Reduction Act in 1990,
according to Cabinet Confidential. The act requires corporations to
disclose the names and quantities of chemicals they use and set
specific goals for reducing the use of toxic chemicals.

Unfortunately, on the national level, the Toxic Substances Control
Act of 1976 was designed to provide a safeguard against dangerous
chemicals manufactured and imported into the United States.

Chemicals already on the market at the time of its passage, however,
have been ''grandfathered.'' The EPA must show a chemical presents an ''unreasonable risk'' and demonstrate likely human exposure before
requiring it to even be tested, according to the ''Cabinet
Confidential'' report.

Although effective government policy plays an important role in
altering manufacturer's practices, consumers do have options. The
demand for natural alternatives reached $20 billion in 2002, and is
projected by the Natural Marketing Institute to reach $33 billion in
2007. Some safe alternatives are as simple as baking soda and vinegar.

Ann LaGoy, a Fishkill resident, is the owner of Sound Earth, which
sells natural cleaning products. The business changed its name from
Clearly Natural on Sept. 1.