Pawlenty accused of ignoring research in favor of industry pressure

BY DENNIS GEISINGER

Christ Church Lutheran Preschool kids—with a little help from their families, the church’s youth group and a Red Cross volunteer’s book club—gathered 1,135 pounds of food for local food shelves. The church sponsors a food drive each spring. We celebrate caring kids and their “helpers.”

“This diminishes the integrity ofthe policymaking process because it’s so off-base,” said Lindsay Dahl, coordinator for the state health advocacy group Healthy Legacy, shortly after Gov. Tim Pawlenty published his May 12 veto statement for Senate File 651, making it a dozen vetoes so far this session.

Pawlenty explained that he chose to send back this year’s Omnibus Health Bill because “prohibitions in the bill [banning flame retardants and certain other chemicals from products sold in Minnesota] are not based on established science, and banning the use of flame retardants in children’s clothing may increase burn injuries to children.”

“Pretty misinformed,” Dahl said, who, after five formal requests over several months, got a meeting with Pawlenty arranged by the chief authors of the chemical ban provision just 12 hours prior to the conference committee passage of the bill.

“Even though I offered to provide him with the peer-reviewed studies showing the health risks connected with these chemicals, he didn’t ask to see them,” said Dahl of the meeting. “Pawlenty’s veto statement is very off-target and full of inaccuracies,” Dahl said.

The flame retardant known as DECA, or polybrominated diphenyl ether, which is widely used in home electronics, mattresses and textiles, has raised concerns in recent years due to research indicating that it is accumulating in the bodies of people and wildlife. Senate File 651, which sought to ban DECA from consumer goods and eliminate two other chemicals from products used by children, had passed both house floors with wide margins (93-39 in the House and 45-20 in the Senate).

“Laboratory studies have demonstrated that exposure to DECA can impair learning and development, and that children are the most vulnerable to its toxic effects,” reported a press release from the Natural Resources Council of Maine, after the legislature in that state voted one year ago to phase out DECA “in favor of safer alternatives.”

According to Healthy Legacy, “The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency found safer alternatives to DECA that meet fire safety standards and are currently on the market ... DECA is a developmental neurotoxin that is chemically similar to PCBs which were banned in the 1970s. In peer-reviewed science, low dose exposure to DECA has been linked to damage to the brain, liver and thyroid in addition to hormone disruption.”

“Although a study recently completed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) identified potential alternative flame retardants to DECA, the report did not conclude that a ban on DECA is sound public policy,” said the governor’s veto statement.
“It’s misleading to say that the MPCA did not weigh in on a ban on DECA because it’s not their job to advocate for public policy,” Dahl said. “The MPCA actually confirmed the purity of the science that identified the health risks surrounding both DECA and phthalates,” Dahl said.

Phthalates and another chemical, BPA, are used in plastic baby products like bottles, toys and teethers. Both substances have been found in studies to disrupt normal reproduction and development when ingested by humans. The Canadian government has entered a 60-day public comment period on whether to ban the importation, sale and advertising of baby bottles that contain BPA. California passed legislation banning phthalates last year and a reported nine other states are contemplating a similar prohibition. A Congressional bill currently in committee for overhauling the Consumer Products Safety Commission would ban phthalates from all children’s toys and products. The European Union has banned the use of phthalates in children’s toys since 1999.
“While the European Union has a ban, it recently completed its risk assessment studies and concluded: ‘The end products containing diisonyl phthalate and the sources of exposure are unlikely to cause a risk for consumers following inhalation, skin contact and ingestion,’” Pawlenty said.

A search by Southside Pride of keywords on the European Union’s official website found only evidence that contradicts Pawlenty’s statement.

A reference to DEHP, a phthalate used to soften PVC plastic that can leach from PVC medical devices, stated that “new information on DEHP indicates that there is still a reason for having some concerns about the exposure of prematurely born male babies to ... DEHP.” The information contained in the material also testified to "potential high human exposure to DEHP” that indicates possible concentrations in humans that are higher than those found to induce “reproductive toxicity in animal studies.” The EU also referred to a Danish study thatsaid, “there are claims that phthalates other than those banned, are used in consumer products, without sufficient knowledge about their risks.”

“The Governor cites ‘lack of scientific evidence’ as a reason for this veto, which is much more likely driven by chemical industry lobbying efforts,” said Minneapolis City Council Member Cam Gordon (Green-Ward 2) in an entry on his Second Ward Blogspot the day after the release of Pawlenty’s statement.
According to the Natural Resources Council of Maine news release, “the chemical industry mounted an all-out campaign, placing more than 27 full-page color print advertisements and running round-the-clock television and radio ads as well” in opposition to Maine’ s recent ban of the DECA flame retardant. “At public hearings and work sessions, the only opposition to the bill came from the chemical industry that wants to keep making and selling DECA despite growing worldwide concern about the threat it poses to the health of children and wildlife,” said the group.

Said Matt Prindiville, toxics project director for the Maine Council, “We are pleased that the Legislature chose to trust Maine’s firefighters, health experts, and scientists, over the chemical industry’s misleading ad campaign.”
“Pawlenty is using the wrong standard, a philosophical template that treats chemicals as if they were persons accused of a crime,” Gordon said. “In this model, chemicals are ‘innocent’ until proven ‘guilty’ of causing harm to human health or the environment,” Gordon said.