Posted on 05/31/2003 9:07:08 PM PDT by StopGlobalWhining
From Hamburg, Germany, at a meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry-Europe
Recycling isn't always as green as it seems. German engineers have discovered that toxic substances found in some paper products end up in bathroom tissue made by recycling that paper. When that product is flushed, the researchers say, the pollutants might harm fish and other wildlife.
Researchers at Dresden University of Technology in Pirna, Germany, realized that many thermal papers-like those used in cash registers and fax machines-incorporate bisphenol-A (BPA). If ingested, this chemical can mimic the activity of estrogen and related female sex hormones (SN: 1/3/93, p. 12). Figuring that people might throw thermal papers into their recycling bins, the Dresden engineers decided to look for BPA in recycled paper.
Dirk Vogel notes that his team detected sizeable quantities-up to 45 milligrams per kilogram of paper-in two of three brands of recycled bathroom tissue tested. They measured even higher concentrations of nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates, which are estrogenic pollutants that the engineers suspect derive from waste-paper processing.
Because such pollutants may also lace recycled paper towels, Vogel suggests that consumers resist composting such papers to prevent any pollutants they may carry from leaching into the soil.
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References:
Gehring, M.J. . . . D. Voge., et al. 2003. Paper as the major source for the emission of bisphenol A to the environment. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry-Europe 13th Annual Meeting. April 27-May 1. Hamburg, Germany.
Further Readings:
Raloff, J. 2001. Kitchen tap may offer drugs and more. Science News 160(Nov. 3):284. Available to subscribers at http://www.sciencenews.org/20011103/note15.asp.
______. 1999. What's coming out of baby's bottle. Science News Online (Sept. 4). Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc99/9_4_99/food.htm.
______. 1997. Dental sealant safety reconsidered. Science News 152(Nov. 22):324. Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc97/11_22_97/fob1.htm.
______. 1993. Plastics may shed chemical estrogens. Science News 144(July 3):12.
Sources:
Dirk Vogel
Faculty of Forestry, Geo and Hydro Sciences
Institute of Waste Management and Contaminated Site Treatment
Dresden University of Technology
TU-Aussenstelle Pirna
Pratzschwitzer Strasse 15
D-01796 Pirna
Germany
From Science News, Vol. 163, No. 21, May 24, 2003, p. 334. |
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Well......okay. If it will save the fish.
German engineers, eh? How do we know they're not PUTTING those toxic substances on our toilet paper?
Oh, wait. We've been saying that for years.
The skin where toilet paper is used is very permeable to various chemicals.
What if we all start wiping with something that causes cancer, but we don't find out about it for 20 or 30 years?
I also have some real concern about where my female loved ones are wiping with this toxic recycled toliet paper.
Can you imagine any scientific evidence, no matter how convincing, having enough impact to overturn or stall the overzealous relentless commitment of the enviro-wackos to recycle everything?
Just imagine the chaos and confusion in the schools if they had to retreat, even a little bit, and admit that it's just not a good idea to try to recycle everything.
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