First Name | Timothy |
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Last Name | Riley |
Email Address | tim@compositesw.com |
Affiliation | BAS Chemistry, UC Davis 1992 |
Subject | Please ban or strictly regulate volatile organic compounds |
Comment | Volatile organic compounds are much worse than tobacco smoke as an air pollutant. It is now well known that tobacco smoke is a carcinogenic assault on human health whether it is inhaled directly or if it is inhaled as a second-hand unintended exposure. But for tobacco smoke the human body partially blocks out the particulates of smoke by physically keeping some of those particles on the outside of the lung cell wall. Unfortunately organic solvents present in the air easily pass through the human (lung) cell wall because those cell walls are made of lipids that easily and quickly absorb organic solvents of all types. I would ask for an outright ban or very strict regulation on most volatile organic solvents, because even licensed commercial users of these solvents can not restrict the movement of air from carrying these solvents once they vaporize. Co-workers in the vicinity can't avoid exposure in just the same way that second hand smoke exposes non-smokers to the air pollution created by burning tobacco. People, plants, and animals breathe these gases and though you can't see vapors in the same way one might see smoke, breathing those vapors constitutes a very toxic assault of organic solvents that get absorbed and circulated in our bodies. Solvents not filtered out air by victims of exposure, will eventually end up in watersheds and in soils that should be kept free and clean of this assault on our health. Too many wells and water sources have already been declared as unfit to drink for similar reasons of toxic plumes created by these same kinds of liquids being dumped or leaked into the soil. Please, please, please help California lead the nation in banning this toxic class of chemicals from polluting our air, bodies, and environment. |
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Date and Time Comment Was Submitted | 2010-11-16 12:25:43 |
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