EDF Health

Report: Grading the nation on lead pipe disclosure policies

By Lindsay McCormick / Published: March 14, 2017

Lindsay McCormick is a Project Manager.  

When purchasing a home, buyers expect to be informed about deficiencies, defects, or environmental hazards on the property. Since 1996, there have been federal policies to alert buyers about lead in paint. However, the likelihood that a buyer will be told their prospective home has lead pipes, including a lead service line, depends on the state in which they live.

Lead service lines (LSLs) – the lead pipes connecting water mains under the street to homes and other buildings – are the primary source of lead in drinking water. Up to 10 million homes across the nation continue to receive water through LSLs, putting millions at risk of lead exposure. Homebuyers deserve to know about this liability when they choose a home and negotiate a price. When done properly, removing the full LSL significantly reduces the risk of lead exposure.

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) analyzed and graded the housing disclosure policies of all U.S. states and the District of Columbia according to their ability to help homebuyers make informed decisions about LSLs before they sign a sales contract by assessing state disclosure laws, required disclosure forms, and voluntary disclosure forms.  We did not address the extent to which LSLs are actively being disclosed under each policy. Read More »

Posted in Drinking water, Lead / Tagged , , | Authors: / Comments are closed

On a roll: EPA proposes to ban or restrict two highly toxic paint stripping chemicals

By Lindsay McCormick / Published: January 13, 2017

Lindsay McCormick is a Project Manager.  

Yesterday, EPA proposed a rule to ban methylene chloride and either ban or restrict the use of N-methylpyrrolidone in paint stripping products, subject to certain national security exemptions. This proposal is the third such proposed action by the agency in the past month (see here and here). Below, find a short description of these chemicals and EPA’s proposed actions.

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Posted in Health policy, Regulation, TSCA reform / Tagged , | Comments are closed

More on EPA’s first 10 chemicals up for review

By Lindsay McCormick / Published: December 1, 2016

Lindsay McCormick is a Project Manager.  

As promised in Tuesday’s blog post, we’ve compiled additional information on the 10 chemicals EPA selected as the first to undergo risk evaluations under the new TSCA.

 

Click on the image to the right to see:

  • EPA’s 2014 rankings on hazard, exposure, and persistence & bioaccumulation characteristics of these chemicals in its TSCA Work Plan for Chemical Assessments;
  • Examples of consumer, commercial, and industrial uses; and
  • National production volume (i.e., volume produced and imported into the U.S.) for 2011 based on EPA’s 2012 Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) information. (Note the 2012 data are the latest publicly available. EPA recently completed its collection of 2016 data, but they are not yet publicly available.)

 

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Mapping lead service lines: DC Water offers a model for utilities across the nation

By Lindsay McCormick / Published: July 25, 2016

[pullquote]Washington, DC’s water utility launched a helpful interactive map allowing residents to see whether water pipes are lead, non-lead, or if there’s no available information for nearly every building and public water source across DC – including residences, restaurants, retailers, schools, drinking water fountains, and even the White House and Smithsonian.

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Lindsay McCormick is a Research Analyst.

When I moved to Washington, DC four years ago the phrase “lead service lines” did not roll off my tongue. That began to change as I became aware of DC’s historical lead problems – and dramatically so in the wake of the crisis in Flint, Michigan.

But I’m not alone.  Even though experts estimate that up to 10 million homes across the U.S. have lead service lines – lead pipes connecting the drinking water main in the street to the home – it’s an issue that is not well understood by most Americans.

And that should come as no surprise given that few water utilities across the U.S. can even say with confidence where the lead services lines are in their systems, and fewer still proactively share what information they have with customers.  Lead service lines are an aging infrastructure, typically found in communities with older housing.  Local recordkeeping over the years has been inconsistent, leaving many utilities today to rely on incomplete, difficult to access, or non-electronic historical records. Many communities appear to have no documentation of when they ceased installing lead service lines altogether.

Read More »

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Wearable wristbands detect flame retardants

By Lindsay McCormick / Published: June 1, 2016

Lindsay McCormick is a Research Analyst.

Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN) recently featured an article on simple, silicone wristbands used to detect chemicals in the everyday environment. Developed by researchers from Oregon State University, these wearable wristbands act like sponges to absorb chemicals in the air, water and everyday consumer products. EDF sees exciting promise in this technology, and has begun using this tool to make the invisible world of chemicals, visible.

The C&EN article highlighted two new studies which used the wristbands to characterize flame retardant exposure – the first two published studies to demonstrate that the wristband technology can be effectively used for this purpose.

There is good reason to explore flame retardant exposure. A 1975 California flammability standard resulted in the addition of flame retardant chemicals to hundreds of millions of foam products in the U.S. including couches and foam baby products. As furniture and other products get old and breakdown, flame retardants are released into surrounding air and settle in the dust in our homes. Evidence from the CDC’s National Biomonitoring Program demonstrates that 99% of people tested have polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants in their body, and other studies indicate that children are more highly exposed to flame retardants than adults. Read More »

Posted in Emerging science, Emerging testing methods, Health science / Tagged , , | Comments are closed

EPA moves one step closer to managing risks from TCE

By Lindsay McCormick / Published: April 11, 2016

Lindsay McCormick is a Research Analyst.

It’s no secret that trichloroethylene (TCE) is a nasty chemical.  A 2013 review of thousands of scientific studies by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientists concluded that TCE is carcinogenic to humans by all routes of exposure and poses additional hazards, including immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and adverse effects on the developing heart.  TCE’s link to cancer has been confirmed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS),  the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the National Toxicology Program (NTP).

With such a track record, one would expect that the U.S. government has restricted its use, right?  Wrong.  The current annual U.S. production of TCE is 250 million pounds – so, not surprisingly, human and environmental exposure is widespread.  While most TCE is used in industrial and commercial settings as a chemical intermediate in the production of other chemicals, it’s also commonly used as a metal degreasing agent and spot cleaner in commercial dry cleaning, and can be found in certain consumer products. Read More »

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