Toxics Policy

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Introduction

This toxics policy is about toxic chemicals and other toxic substances or compounds and their synthesis or extraction and concentration, use and disposal. It does not include naturally occurring poisonous substances except where they are utilised by humans to achieve some desired effect (e.g. as a pesticide).

Toxic chemicals cause some of our most enduring environmental and human health problems. They are also at the centre of our everyday lives and our economic system.

The world is awash with toxic synthetic chemicals that affect both environmental heath and human health. Approximately 70-90,000 synthetic chemicals have been developed and used worldwide. Some are now obsolete but still contaminate the environment, and new ones are being developed every day.

Toxic chemicals are used in many common products that can be found in most of our homes and work places to some extent: personal care products, household cleaners, foods, toys, building materials, garden products, paints, etc. They are also used in agriculture, pest and weed control, biosecurity programmes, food manufacture, and industrial processes. They are emitted as by-products of combustion (cigarettes, vehicles, incinerators) and industrial processes. They include pesticides, flame retardants, non-stick coatings, solvents, adhesives, water treatment chemicals, and many more.

They are found as contaminants throughout our environment including in the tissues of animals and humans. Many are passed from mother to child through the placenta and through breastmilk.

In New Zealand we have very little knowledge of the full extent of, or the long-term effects of environmental and human contamination with toxic chemicals, but overseas studies indicate that we should be very concerned.

Some synthetic chemicals are linked to the decline in wildlife populations and to many human diseases and disorders including cancer, birth defects, decreased fertility, disruption of the endocrine, immune and nervous systems, Parkinson's Disease, lowered IQ, increased aggression, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, and many other health problems.

Toxic chemicals are currently managed through a permissive registration process that favours the chemical and the profits of manufacturers and industry, rather than human or environmental health or rights. Many chemicals are registered with minimal evidence of safety, and when experience indicates they might not be safe, the benefit of the doubt is still given to the chemicals until overwhelming scientific evidence is collected to refute the claim of safety.

In New Zealand, hazardous chemicals are now registered under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) with improved requirements for information on toxic effects. However many of the chemicals in use currently have been 'grandfathered' in by ERMA with little information required to demonstrate the safety of these chemicals, and a very slow reassessment process. Registration is still based on an outdated risk assessment model that takes no account of less harmful alternatives.

There is little information on the volumes of toxic chemicals used in New Zealand. We have contaminated sites all over the country that cause environmental damage and human sickness. We export hazardous wastes overseas. The concept of chemical trespass is not enshrined in law; and the public still does not have the legal right to know what chemicals they are being exposed to. Most government departments, local bodies and businesses still do not have a commitment to using the least toxic products and practices, and there is insufficient research into safer alternatives.

The following Green Party policies also contain issues relating to toxics:

Agriculture, Animal welfare, Children, Conservation, Environment, Health, Housing, Safe food, Tax, Trade, Transport, Waste, Women

Definitions

Clean Production - a way of designing products and manufacturing processes in harmony with natural ecological cycles; it aims to eliminate toxic wastes and inputs and promotes the sustainable use of renewable material and energy.

Bioaccumulative — accumulates in living tissue.

Endocrine disrupting — interferes with the normal functioning of hormonal systems in humans and animals.

Mauri - life force

Persistent — the chemical does not breakdown quickly into harmless components in the environment (soil, air, water, human and animal tissue).

The Principle of Minimum Harm - the product or practice that causes the minimum harm to the environment and human health should be used in seeking to achieve the required goal.

The Precautionary Principle - when a substance or product has reasonable evidence of harm to human health or the environment, even if not fully established, then precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.

The central message of the precautionary principle is that action should be taken to prevent harm to the environment and human health, even if scientific evidence is inconclusive.

Toxic - having an adverse health effect on humans or other non-target organisms and it includes having an adverse effect on the environment.

Toxin - a poisonous substance of biological or synthetic origin.

Pesticide — chemical/s or substances used to kill living organisms perceived as pests (includes herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, fumigants)

Vision

New Zealand consists of healthy populations of well-informed people, domestic and indigenous plants, and animals living in a sustainably managed country with clean air, clean water, clean land, a clean and healthy food supply, safe workplaces, and safe and healthy homes.

In order to achieve this we need to adopt a precautionary approach to all chemicals and focus on achieving desired outcomes by the method or chemical that causes the least harm.

Key Principles

• People will avoid using toxic chemicals wherever possible and use natural non-harmful methods instead.

• Whenever we do need to use a toxic chemical we will evaluate all alternative options and use the least harmful practical method

This means that in all areas involving the use of toxic chemicals we will apply both the Principle Of Minimum Harm and the Precautionary Principle.

Specific Policy Points

1. Promoting and implementing the Substitution of less harmful alternatives

Whenever a toxic chemical is registered or used, all alternative options should be evaluated and the least harmful practical method should be substituted. This is simply an expression of the principle of minimum harm.

Currently the concept of substitution exists only in the reassessment provisions of HSNO, but which does not include safer non-chemical methods of management, nor does it allow for consideration of alternatives in the assessment for initial registration of a substance.

In order to ensure that the least harmful method is adopted wherever possible the Green Party will:

1. Support and fund research into the development of non-toxic alternatives for substances and products that are toxic, in all sectors but prioritising agriculture, construction, and manufacturing

2. Promote and support organic land use, including working towards the target of half of New Zealand's production becoming certified organic by 2020, with the remainder in the process of conversion [see Agriculture policy]
3. Promote public education at all levels on the impacts of chemicals on health and the environment and the need for safer alternatives
4. Develop and implement a pesticide reduction strategy to reduce pesticide use by 50% within five years, with annual monitoring and reports on progress, and with the emphasis on safer alternatives; [see Agriculture, Environment and Safe Food policies]
5. Ensure that Government land management polices reflect the principle of minimum harm, using the least toxic substances or methods that are practicable
6. Ensure that procurement policies of central and local government, and all state-owned agencies and crown entities, model a commitment to non or least toxic products and practices, e.g. non-chlorine bleached products, non — PVC products, organic food, etc; [see Environment policy]
7. Amend the HSNO Act, the ACVM Act, the Biosecurity Act, the Conservation Act, the RMA, the Building Code, and any other appropriate legislation and regulations to require that when registering or using a hazardous substance, preference must be given to less hazardous substances or methods that are practicable
8. Require the reassessment, within a specified timeframe, of currently registered hazardous substances to ensure this provision is met, with a view to deregistering a substance if less hazardous substances or methods are available
9. Require a 5 year limitation on registrations of chemicals that are identified as chemicals of concern and 20 years for other chemicals. This will allow for consideration of new information on effects and of new less hazardous substances or methods that can achieve the required goal
10. Promote and support cleaner production in industry
11. Develop and implement a transitional strategy for industries and occupations using substances that need to be phased out, giving priority to replacement of substances which are endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, immune system suppressants, neurotoxins, contaminate the food chain, or accumulate in people's bodies

2. Taking preventive action in the face of uncertainty - the level of scientific proof

At the moment action to remove toxic chemicals or reduce exposure is usually taken only after significant proof of harm is established, at the cost of substantial human suffering and environmental contamination.

The Green Party believes that where there is evidence of potential harm, early action should be taken to reduce human and environmental exposures. This requires listening to the experiences of workers and community who are exposed to toxic chemicals and giving the benefit of the doubt to humans and the environment rather than the chemical.

In order to ensure that the precautionary principle is applied to chemicals, the Green Party will:

1. Amend the HSNO Act, the ACVM Act and other relevant legislation to ensure that the precautionary principle is properly implemented with respect to toxic chemicals

2. Ensure that all toxic chemicals are supported by a complete toxicological data set
3. Ensure that the experience of workers and community are taken into account in determining effects of hazardous substances
4. Ensure a thorough review of health and ecological impacts where there has been significant public exposure, for example as a result of aerial spraying.

3. Looking at the larger picture — banning persistent, accumulative and highly toxic chemicals

Some chemicals have properties that make them highly undesirable and their use unsustainable. Bottom lines for acceptability should be set and chemicals that do not meet these should be phased out over a short-term time frame.

To achieve this the Green Party will:

1. Identify all existing hazardous substances that are persistent, accumulative, highly toxic, carcinogenic, reproductive or neurological toxicants, and/or endocrine disruptors

2. Rapidly phase out these chemicals where safer practicable alternatives exist
3. Fund research into safer alternatives where these are not already available
4. Establish a list of other chemicals of concern to guide business and government decision-making away from problem chemicals
5. Require the tracking of these chemicals from their manufacture or importation through to their destruction or final disposal and annual reporting of quantities used until they can be replaced with safer alternatives
6. Develop a programme for monitoring the human body burden of persistent toxic chemicals
7. Monitor levels of dioxin in food
8. Develop a National Environmental Standard on the release of dioxins into air, land and water, and implement measures to eliminate where possible processes that produce dioxins — including chlorine bleaching, incinerators of unsorted waste, burning of treated wood in wood-fired co-generation and chlorophenol-based pesticides such as 2,4-D.
9. Develop transition strategies for all industries using chlorinated products, and other chemicals to be phased out
10. Phase out the use of PVC pipes in the building industry and replace with non-chlorinated, less toxic alternatives.

4. Regulating on basis of life cycle analysis

In order to ensure that due account is taken of the impact of any toxic chemical on the environment and human health, the Green Party will:

1. Require the assessment of all toxic chemicals to include a full assessment of the chemical throughout its life cycle from its manufacture or importation through to its destruction or final disposal.

5. Regulating on the basis of the most affected

Currently exposure limits to chemicals are set on the basis of acceptable effects that could be expected for an average, healthy, 70kg adult male. However most of the population, including adult males with a range of health problems, are more vulnerable to the effects of toxic chemicals. . The most vulnerable groups are the unborn foetus, newborn babies and those with chemical sensitivity. Exposure limits for toxic chemicals should be set on the basis of the most vulnerable or sensitive groups especially those to whom exposure may result in a lifetime of suffering and unachieved potential.

To protect the most vulnerable groups in our society the Green Party will:

1. Require MRLs for pesticides to be set on the basis of the unborn foetus and newborn children

2. Require assessments and exposure limits for all toxic chemicals to be set on the basis of the unborn foetus and newborn children. [see Children, Health, and Safe Food policies]

6. The duty of responsibility/care

Those who have the power and resources to act and prevent harm must bear responsibility for preventing the harm. The manufacturers of toxic chemicals should carry the financial liability for the effects of their products and, together with the authorities that permit use of the products, a duty to monitor and report environmental and health effects. The 'Duty of Care' provision that has been written into the EU legislation gives manufacturers and importers a responsibility for chemicals' harmful effects that he/she could have 'reasonably foreseen'. Others in positions of authority, such as landlords, schools and employers, should also have the duty to ensure that the toxic chemicals they allow to be used do not adversely affect those under their mandate. The duty of responsibility extends to animals, consistent with the Green Party's Animal Welfare Policy.

To ensure that due care is taken in the use of toxic chemicals the Green Party will:

1. Ensure that those who import, or manufacture toxic chemicals or substances are required to take financial liability for adverse effects that could have been reasonably foreseen

2. Ban the importation or manufacture of toxic chemicals that cannot be disposed of safely in New Zealand
3. Ensure that the Government takes responsibility for the hazardous waste and toxic chemicals it has permitted to be used in New Zealand, by banning exports of this material unless for the purpose of safe recycling or reprocessing;
4. Ban exports of toxic products not registered for use in New Zealand
5. Support and implement the provisions of the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent, and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
6. Ensure that those who use, or require or permit to be used, toxic chemicals or substances are required to take financial liability for adverse effects resulting from that use that could have been reasonably avoided, such as caused by pesticide spray drift/chemical trespass
7. Place an immediate halt on aerial spraying of chemicals that are persistent, accumulative, highly toxic, carcinogenic, reproductive or neurological toxicants, and/or endocrine disruptors; and:
   
   1. establish a register of chemicals (e.g. 2-4-D) that are not permitted for aerial spraying to take effect immediately

   2. make aerial spraying is a non-complying activity in district and regional plans. (So that an application has to be made for permission to use aerial spraying methods)
   3. only permit aerial spraying when it is the safest, least toxic, effective, feasible method of achieving the desired outcome
   4. ensure that there is appropriate public input into the decision to allow aerial spraying.
   5. require a plan to mitigate aerial spray drift or contamination of waterways
   6. ensure that there is agreement from people whose homes and living spaces are being sprayed
   7. ensure that full information on any spraying programmes are available to the public
8. Make mandatory the existing NODS (Notifiable Occupational disease System) and develop a toxic chemical injury register with mandatory reporting for medical practitioners and others in positions of authority
9. Take appropriate measures to ensure that the already mandatory reporting of poisoning by pesticides does occur
10. Implement the recommendations of the report of the National Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee (NOHSAC) on surveillance of occupational disease and injury to identify extent of occupational chemical injury'
11. Require the mandatory training and certification of all people who use pesticides commercially, either as contractors or on commercial properties, and including pest control operators who apply pesticides in private homes
12. Require workplaces to maintain a log of unprotected or unforeseen chemical exposures
13. Ensure improved training of medical personnel in the recognition and treatment of effects of toxic chemicals, including increased training in occupational health in medical schools, and regular courses for those in practice
14. Ensure the provision of educational materials and guidelines to schools, landlords, employers, etc, on their duties to use the safest practicable methods, to report adverse effects, and their financial liabilities
15. Introduce a toxic substances awareness module at teacher training institutions
16. Introduce a toxic substances awareness unit in years 12 and 13 Health Curriculum
17. Develop an independent, Treaty-based agency to monitor levels of toxic contamination in environment, humans, food, and the effects of toxic chemicals on humans and animals, and on cultural values such as mauri (spirit).
18. Ensure that use of animals in testing toxic chemicals is rapidly and drastically reduced and phased out completely at the earliest opportunity, this testing to be replaced by in vitro, clinical, epidemiological, and other non-live animal research protocols. [see Animal Welfare policy]

7. Economic incentives

The concept that the polluter should pay is included in international environmental agreements. It is included in the HSNO Act in section 96, which permits ERMA to report to the Minister of the Environment if it thinks an environmental user charge might reduce the occurrence of adverse effects. The Green Party will apply the 'polluter pays' principle to toxic chemicals in order to provide an incentive to reduce the use of these chemicals and increase the incentive to use safer alternatives; and to provide funds for remediating the effects of toxic chemicals on human health and the environment.

The Green Party will:

1. Amend HSNO to require a variable levy on toxic chemicals in proportion to their toxicity (including chronic and eco toxicity) and their persistence, beginning with pesticides

2. The revenue returned by this levy will be used for developing and implementing safer alternatives, such as organic agriculture, cleaner production, etc.
3. It will also be available for remediating orphaned contamination sites, i.e. those for which no liability can be determined.
4. Investigate the use of tax relief and other financial incentives to provide support to businesses undergoing transition to safer products and processes
5. Require full cost accounting to ensure users/polluters take responsibility for toxic products based on life cycle of those products
6. Consider the application of ecobonds for users of chemicals that are persistent, accumulative, highly toxic, carcinogenic, reproductive or neurological toxicants, and/or endocrine disruptors, until such time as they are replaced by safer alternatives.

8. Democratic principles: public participation

Democratic principles require greater transparency and pubic involvement in toxic chemicals policies and regulatory processes. Since its inception, the Board of ERMA has included scientists, representatives of chemical and biotech interests, Maori and political interests, but no one (other than Maori) to specifically represent community concerns.

The Green Party believes that any community affected by the use of toxic chemicals (such as those exposed to aerially applied pesticides) should be significantly involved in the policy decisions surrounding the use of those chemicals.

In order to ensure that the public has a greater say in chemical policies the Green Party will:

1. Ensure that the public are represented directly, and adequately, on ERMAN
2. Ensure that communities potentially exposed to toxic substances by policies or practices of central or local government, or state-owned agencies and crown entities, are fully involved in the development and implementation of that policy, and in the investigation and reporting of any health, community or ecological impacts

3. Ensure that the chemically injured and their support groups are involved in developing accurate diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation protocols

9. Right to know

The public and workers have the right to know what chemicals they are exposed to and the hazardous nature of those chemicals. Without such knowledge they cannot take precautionary measures themselves to avoid potential harm. This includes the need for full product labelling of all toxic ingredients, and full disclosure of contents of industrial releases.

To enable this the Green Party will:

1. Pass right to know legislation so that the public are entitled to know the full ingredients list of chemicals or sprays they are exposed to, including a requirement for manufacturers and importers to provide that information on request

2. Require full content labelling of cosmetics, personal care products, household products, fertilisers and pesticides, including inert ingredients; [see Women's policy]
3. Require a public register of ingredients in cosmetics, pesticide, household products, etc, and safer available alternatives
4. Require a toxic release inventory — a publicly available inventory of the use and release of toxic chemicals in New Zealand
5. Require that all home pest control and cleaning contractors provide the householder with the full ingredients of the products to be used, and information on potential health effects
6. Ensure that parents are informed of toxic substances used in childcare centres and schools, including on playing fields, and the potential health effects
7. Ensure all information on contamination of soils, water, and food is made publicly available
8. Ensure workers are provided with information on the potential effects of substances they are exposed to, and protective measures that can be taken
9. Require manufacturers to provide information on the effects of a substance on human health and the environment at the request of downstream users

10. Justice and human rights

Involuntary exposure to toxic chemicals that affects health, well-being and economic sustainability should be recognised as an infringement of human rights, The current legal framework does not provide an adequate basis for achieving justice. Although ACC does theoretically recognise chemical injury to health, the failure of medical personnel to recognise the symptoms of chemical poisoning and the burden of proving cause of the injury prevent many affected people from receiving compensation.

To ensure that people access justice the Green Party will:

1. Pass legislation to make agrichemical trespass across boundaries illegal

2. Ensure the rights of workers to protection from toxic substances, including the right to refuse unsafe work and the right to transfer without penalty to another area that will lessen their exposure
3. Improve access to compensation for people affected by toxic substances, including improved medical recognition of symptoms of chemical poisoning especially those of ongoing low dose exposure to mixtures of chemicals

11. Cleaning up the mess

We have a legacy of contaminated sites left over from our past use of persistent toxic chemicals such as the pesticides DDT and dieldrin, the timber treatment chemical PCP, and the by-product dioxin. These highly toxic chemicals continue to leach out into the wider environment, e.g. by movement through the soil into groundwater. Until we identify, isolate and remediate all of these toxic sites they will continue to cause environmental damage and human and animal sickness. Additionally methods for detoxifying accumulated hazardous wastes need to be developed and put into practice.

The Green Party will:

1. Set up a national register of contaminated sites

2. Develop national standards for the clean up of contaminated sites
3. Ensure the remediation of all contaminated sites funded through a levy on those industries responsible, e.g. farming, forestry, mining, pulp and paper, dry cleaning, oil companies, etc, as well as through Government funding
4. Require hazardous wastes to be collected and stored in secure containment until decontamination and remediation processes are developed and implemented
5. Establish clear liability rules for contaminated sites, based on the polluter pays principle, with the Crown taking responsibility for sites previously owned or contaminated by Crown agencies, and for contamination produced by past Governments;
6. Establish an innocent landowner defence where the contamination could not reasonably have been known at the time of purchase;
7. Support further research into innovative remediation techniques such as the use of plants or zeolite