Action Alert: Prevent Pollution from Entering Puget Sound

Is your shower curtain polluting Puget Sound? It might sound ridiculous but it’s true. A new study by the Washington Toxics Coalition and People for Puget Sound has uncovered that toxic chemicals from everyday products, like shower curtains and toys, are hitchhiking on our clothes and heading down the drain to Puget Sound by way of washing machine rinse water.

Many chemicals found in consumer products and household dust, including phthalates, toxic flame retardants, and heavy metals, pose a serious threat to Puget Sound, contaminating its sediments as well as wildlife including, killer whales, and salmon.. Unless the ongoing chemical pollution from everyday products is addressed, Puget Sound will not be restored to health.

Click here to send an email to Governor Gregoire.

How are toxic chemicals from everyday products finding their way into Puget Sound? The study, Puget Sound Down the Drain: How everyday products are polluting Puget Sound, follows harmful chemicals from everyday products as they accumulate in our homes as dust, hitchhike on our clothing, then travel down our drains in laundry rinse water out to pollute Puget Sound.

The report focuses on a group of worrisome chemicals called phthalates. Our study found that approximately 17% of the all phthalates entering wastewater treatment plants come from everyday consumer products. We have good reason to be concerned by this. Phthalates are associated with reproductive problems, changes in metabolism, and death in aquatic organisms.

For Puget Sound to be clean and healthy, we need to eliminate harmful chemicals from consumer products, help industry find safer alternatives, and endure adequate funding for such programs.

We have no time to waste. Please urge Governor Gregoire to act now to prevent pollution from entering Puget Sound.

Click here to send an email or follow this link:

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5121/t/7277/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2090