Nov 8 2005
Fish, mother's milk, snow from the North Pole and cow milk often contain poisonous non-degradable chemical compounds, such as PCBs, which come from industrial use. On closer examination, alternative substances for these compounds often turn out to be strongly related chemical compounds and consequently equally poisonous. In his inaugural address at Wageningen University, Professor Jacob de Boer calls for more understanding of these earlier patented chemical alternatives at a European level. With more understanding, these chemicals can be forbidden, if necessary, on the grounds of the characteristic 'persistent toxicity'.
The professor of Analytical Environmental Chemistry at Wageningen University Jacob de Boer sees an increasing use of functional substances for industrial applications and in daily use. In this way, the strong, world-wide increase in the use of synthetic material and electronic equipment has led to an increase of fire risk in goods. However, the risk of fire has been curtailed by incorporating a large amount of so called flame retardants into the material. These bromine compounds (PBDEs), which are in several materials patented in the 1960s when environmental requirements were still limited, can be found in floor covering, furniture upholstery, roofing material, car seats, televisions, computers and other electronic equipment. Since the 1980s, these compounds have also been found, to a small extent, in the environment and, since the end of the 1990s, in the world's oceans and sea life such as sperm whales. The appearance of these compounds in the environment has made their globalisation a fact.
In the meantime, the so called fluorine alkyl compounds have also been discovered in our food and environment. These compounds are being used as dirt and water repellents in carpets and rainwear, as fat repellent material in pizza boxes, for example, or as an ingredient in ski wax. A recent example of the unwanted presence of environmental and human hazardous chemical compounds concerns the so called Belgian dioxin crisis, in which a supply of motor oil with PCBs was mixed with chicken feed. In the end, this affair led to the fall of the government at the time.
In his inaugural speech, Professor De Boer states that it evidently " is continually possible to change to the production of related compounds that have clearly been patented earlier." In this way, the so called hexabromine cyclodecane (HBCD) were used for flame retarders instead of the bromine difenylethers. "The remedy is then worse than the disease," according to Professor De Boer. "Because of this reason, I would like to make a strong plea that all chemical compounds patents from earlier years be organised and open, so that, if necessary, as a precautionary measure, the production can be limited or forbidden."
Prof. Dr. Jacob de Boer (Velsen, 1955) is head of Environment and Food Safety for the Netherlands Institute for Fisheries Research (RIVO from Wageningen UR) in IJmuiden. In 1998, he received the status of 'excellent researcher' within Wageningen UR, and in January of this year, he was named to Professor holding a personal Chair in research and education at Wageningen University because of his personal high quality in research and education. Jacob de Boer began his education with a school of higher professional education where he studied to become a chemical analyst. In 1995, he received his doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.
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