Category: Toxic chemicals

Symposium grapples with long-lasting PCBs

An aerial image of the lower Duwamish River as it flows into Puget Sound. The river is heavily contaminated with PCBs and other toxic chemicals. Photo courtesy of NOAA.
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Researchers at the Puget Sound Institute hosted a two-day symposium last month to share information about the science and management of PCBs in the environment. The online workshops, held January 24th and 25th, were organized by PSI researchers Andy James, Joel Baker, and Marielle Larson, in coordination with colleagues Will Hobbs (Washington State Department of Ecology) and Katrina Radach (PSP), along with Greg Allen and Doug Austin (US EPA Chesapeake Bay). Despite their ban in the U.S. in 1979, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) remain one of the most pressing and stubborn […]

Event celebrates the anniversary of the Clean Water Act and new funding for Puget Sound

EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe gave a speech about new federal funding for the environment while visiting the Center for Urban Waters in Tacoma.
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It could have been mistaken for a foggy morning along the waterfront, but the occasional coughs and burning eyes among the crowd of 60 or so people gathered here last Wednesday told a different story. Like much of the Northwest, Tacoma was shrouded in a haze of smoke from a spate of forest fires giving it and its neighbor Seattle the dubious distinction of having some of the worst air quality in the world, topping places like Delhi and Beijing. A group of policymakers, tribal leaders and elected officials were […]

BPA toxicity debate approaches regulatory decisions at both state and federal levels

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As Washington state authorities get ready to ban the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) from drink cans and customer sales receipts, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has agreed to take a fresh look at the potential dangers of BPA. Washington Department of Ecology has issued its “Regulatory Determinations to the Legislature,” which specifies that safer chemicals are available and could be banned from a dozen applications where toxic chemicals are widely used — from flame retardants in electronic equipment to stain-resistant compounds in carpets. Coming next are actual regulations to […]