The California State Senate
passed SB 899 (Simitian), a bill that will phase out the use of dangerous
chemicals from plastic packaging used in California
by 2015. SB 899 codifies section 11 of the California Ocean Protection Council
resolution passed in February 2007. ( http://resources.ca.gov/copc/02-08
07_meeting/Adopted_Marine_Debris_Res_0207.pdf )
“We are pleased that the
Senate has passed legislation that protects our ocean,” said Dan Jacobson,
legislative director for Environment California. “Now we need the Assembly to
follow through and bring this bill to the governor’s desk.”
According to the California
Coastal Commission, 60 to 80 percent of all marine debris is plastic. Plastic marine debris is responsible for injuring
or killing at least 267 species world-wide, including 86 percent of all sea turtle
species, 44 percent of all sea bird species and 43 percent of marine mammal
species.
Plastic contains toxic
chemicals that contaminate the water and the marine life exposed to it. Almost every marine organism, from the tiniest
plankton to whales and polar bears, is contaminated with man-made chemicals,
such as those chemicals used in consumer products like plastics.
Because plastic can take hundreds
years to breakdown, it presents a persistent and cumulative threat to our
oceans and their inhabitants.
Specifically SB 899 will
require the use of plastic packaging that contains the toxic materials styrene,
bisphenol-A, perfluorooctanoic acid, vinyl chloride, nonylphenols, and
alkylphenols be phased out by 2015.
