"If the public becomes more aware of the environmental dangers of
lead wheel weights and is given alternative wheel balancing choices then
there will be a decrease in lead entering the environment. It is
important that we make sure that the water we drink and the air we
breathe is free of lead." TEAM DEAD WEIGHT
This absolutely would not have been possible without all of your efforts over the years. Including the dedicated environmental health advocates, lead (and non-lead) wheel weight manufacturers, automakers, tire retailers, the USPS, EPA and state agency staff, the kids from West Branch Middle School in Iowa and many, many more. If you haven't read about the West Branch kids yet, check this out:
http://www.westbranchtimes.com/article.php?id=4678 http://www.leadzero.org
And I want to give special recognition to Bob Root, whose pioneering research in this area has been indispensible for moving this issue into the bright light of day.
While we still have to be vigilant in monitoring the rulemaking process, I can now see the light at the end of tunnel.
Sale of Toxic Lead Tire Balancing Weights for Cars
Washington, DC - In a decision issued today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reversed its 2005 decision and accepted a petition from a dozen environmental and public health organizations to immediately begin rulemaking to ban lead wheel balancing weights. Lead in wheel weights represents one of the largest unregulated uses of lead in consumer products today. These wheel weights are used to balance vehicle tires so they don't vibrate as they spin. In a separate action today, EPA reached a settlement of a lawsuit to fix a flawed rulemaking to deal with the largest source of lead poisoning - lead in paint from renovation, repair and painting activities.
Lead weights falling off car tire rims is one of the largest ongoing releases of lead into the environment. "1.6 million pounds of lead from wheel weights is left falling off of cars each year where anyone can find and possibly ingest it," said Jeff Gearhart, Research Director for the Ecology Center. "Banning lead wheel weights will greatly protect kids from lead poisoning."
Currently, there is an estimated 12.5 million pounds of lead left uncontrolled in the environment. "Cars and trucks grind the wheel weights into a powder that spreads into the neighborhoods along our busy streets, especially the city streets where traffic is heaviest and the stops, starts, and bumps are more common," said Tom Neltner, Co-Chair of the National Toxic Team for the Sierra Club. "EPA's action makes it clear that the agency recognizes that once released into our neighborhoods, lead is tough to cleanup. Pollution prevention is the best way to protect our health and our environment."
Today's decision follows several state actions. The state of Washington passed a ban in 2009 which will go into effect in 2011. Maine passed a ban which will go into effect in 2010. California and Iowa are currently considering similar bans. Vermont has banned lead wheel weights for state-owned vehicles by 2010 and for all new vehicles by 2011.
In 2005 the Ecology Center petitioned EPA on the same matter, asking the agency to prohibit the manufacturing, processing, distribution in commerce, use and improper disposal of lead wheel balancing weights. EPA denied that petition on August 8, 2005. Now four years after denying children the opportunity to dramatically reduce their exposure to a major source of new lead on their streets and in their neighborhoods, the EPA is taking action.
While EPA launched a voluntary program working with industry nearly a year ago to address concerns about lead wheel weights, the coalition groups believe that a mandatory phase-out of lead weights is needed to protect children, the public and the environment. New vehicles are now lead-free, but the groups' petition sought to eliminate lead wheel weights from use in aftermarket tires, which are believed to account for about 80% of all wheel weights used.
The coalition groups are: Ecology Center, Sierra Club, Alliance for Healthy Homes, Center for Environmental Health, Environmental Health Watch, Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, United Parents Against Lead, Louisiana ACORN.
To subscribe to this list go to http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/ecocenter/signUp.jsp?key=2066&t=leadfreewheels.dwt
The EPA website announced it will pursue a ban on the manufacture and
distribution of lead tire weights in response to a 2009 petition from the
Ecology Center, the Sierra Club and other NGOs requesting that the agency
establish regulations prohibiting the manufacture, processing, and
distribution of lead tire weights. Lead weights are used predominately in
the tire replacement market to balance tires of autos and light trucks in
the United States. They can fall off tires and then break down and
contaminate soil, wash into sewers, or end up being transported to municipal
landfills or incinerators. EPA estimates that 2,000 tons of lead from tire
weights are lost from vehicles and ultimately end up in the environment each
year. Tire weights without lead are already being used and can be
effectively substituted.(http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/ db41c4a8c1f1d2d88525761e0056dfed?OpenDocument)
August 26, 2009 - The EPA website announced that it will grant a petition to
initiate regulatory action to address lead hazards associated with the
manufacture, processing, and distribution in commerce of lead wheel
balancing weights ("wheel weights").
(http://www.epa.gov/oppt/chemtest/pubs/petitions.html#petition4)
Science research team "Dead Weight" recognizes the
need to protect the public from exposure to lead hazards.
There are no federal regulatory controls governing use of lead
wheel weights. Environmental health hazards associated with lead
wheel weights are a preventable problem. People are exposed to
lead fragments and dust when lead wheel weights fall from motor
vehicles onto the nation's roadways and are then abraded and
pulverized by traffic. Lead wheel weights on and alongside roadways
can contribute to soil, surface and groundwater contamination and
pose hazards to downstream aquatic life.
Lead negatively affects every bodily system. While it is
injurious to people of all ages, lead is especially harmful to
fetuses,children, and adults of childbearing age. Effects of lead
on a child's cognitive, behavioral, and developmental abilities may
necessitate large expenditures of public funds for health care and
special education. Irreversible damage to children and subsequent
expenditures could be avoided if exposure to lead is reduced.
