Toxicant environmental movement

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) was signed into law in late 1976. It was a bitterly-debated piece of legislation it arose at the height of the combined environmental concern and "cancerphobia" fears distinctive of that time. In order to understand how corporations have responded to TSCA, it is important to recall the situation at that time in the knowledge of carcinogenesis, in the environmental movement, in the political scene and, finally, in the corporations themselves. 

Since the beginning of the environmental movement in the 1960s many people have asked repeatedly if we better off environmentally today and, if so, can we do even more than we have done In some respects we see a bad side. The chemical industry still has a large amount of toxic chemical emissions. Pollution control is getting more expensive. On the brighter side. 

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the combined effects of the toxics and EJ movements. Together, they redirected the environmental movement in the United States. The movement that had... 

Toxics and EJ groups permanently expanded the definition of the environment to include not just wild lands and animals but all the places were people live, work, play, pray and learn. Now for the first time, the environmental movement would focus attention on the cities - and to a lesser extent the workplaces - where most Americans spend their lives. This new perspective meant that the environmental movement could now appeal to huge numbers of people previously overlooked by the earlier focus on wilderness and endangered species. 

The United States s approach toward dealing with environmental problems has evolved since the early stages of the environmental movement in the 1960s and early 1970s. Most approaches have centered around the command and control approach to pollution. In its earliest form this involved the government allowing potential releasers of toxic substances to release materials only in certain limited... 

TAetection of the highly potent impurity, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in the herbicide 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T), necessitated an environmental assessment of the impact of this contaminate. Information was rapidly needed on movement, persistence, and plant uptake to determine whether low concentrations reaching plants, soils, and water posed any threat to man and his environment. Because of the extreme toxicity of TCDD, utmost precautions were taken to reduce or minimize the risk of exposure to laboratory personnel. Synthesis of uniformly labeled C-TCDD by Muelder and Shadoff (I) greatly facilitated TCDD detection in soil and plant experiments. For unlabeled experiments it seemed wise to use only small quantities of diluted solutions in situations where decontamination was feasible and to rely on the sensitivity afforded by electron capture gas chromatography... 

Chiou, C.T. Schmedding, D.W., "Test Protocols for Environmental Fate and Movement of Toxicants" Zweig, G. and Beroza, M. eds. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington, D.C., 1981, Chapter 3. 

This chapter presents a characterization of the e-waste situation, particularly in terms of intervention attempts made in order to manage it safely. The more prominent agreements, policies, systems, and laws at the national and international level are surveyed. Samples are provided of the environmental and human consequences of large-scale movements of toxic e-waste to the developing world. Trends for the next several years are noted, too. 

Silver occurs naturally in several oxidation states, the most common being elemental silver (Ag°) and the monovalent ion (Ag+). Soluble silver salts are, in general, more toxic than insoluble salts. In natural waters, the soluble monovalent species is the form of environmental concern. Sorption is the dominant process that controls silver partitioning in water and its movements in soils and sediments. As discussed later, silver enters the animal body through inhalation, ingestion, mucous membranes, and broken skin. The interspecies differences in the ability of animals to accumulate, retain, and eliminate silver are large. Almost all of the total silver intake is usually... 

Boron and arsenic are natural components of soil and are both present as oxyanions. Boron is present as boric acid or borate polymers, and arsenic is present as arsenate. While boron is weakly held by soil, arsenic is similar to phosphate in its interactions with soil constituents. Boron is an essential nutrient for plants however, it is also toxic to plants at relatively low levels. Arsenic is toxic. The laboratory chemistry of both of these elements is well understood, but their environmental chemistry, speciation and movement, is less well understood [23-27],... 

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