Regulatory Policy Implications of 1,4-Dioxane - Environmental Investigation and Remediation - page 452

This chapter provides a roadmap of the regulatory landscape dei ning the issues raised by 1,4-
dioxane contamination of water resources and a compass to anticipate the path through the wilder-
ness of uncodii ed but nonetheless practiced regulatory policies.
10.1 APPLYING THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE TO REGULATION OF
1,4-DIOXANE AND EMERGING CONTAMINANTS IN DRINKING WATER
“First, do no harm.” “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” “Look before you leap.”
“Better safe than sorry.” “Measure twice, cut once.”
Was Mom right? These seemingly trite platitudes belie the wisdom they hold for averting
unwanted environmental consequences, which is framed as the precautionary principle. The pre-
cautionary principle posits that when credible evidence of harm or potential harm exists and the risk
is signii cant, authorities should take action even if some scientii c uncertainty remains. The precau-
tionary principle concept has its roots in German environmental law developed in the early 1970s,
when German scientists and policy-makers grappled with “forest death.” Suspecting air pollution as
the cause, yet not fully convinced with scientii c certainty, they developed the Vorsorgenprinzip ,
which translates to “fore caring” or “precautionary principle” and generated the German Clean Air
Act of 1974 to combat acid rain and other environmental problems (McKenna and Sylvester, 2004;
European Environment Agency [EEA], 2000).
Proponents of applying the precautionary principle advocate that when faced with potentially
signii cant risk, authorities should take action even if some cause and effect relationships are not
fully established. Proponents further recommend that the process of applying the precautionary
principle must be open, informed, and democratic and must include parties potentially affected by
the environmental consequence at issue (Global Development Research Center [GDRC], 1998). The
EEA's inspired report, Late lessons from early warnings: the precautionary principle 1896-2000
(EEA, 2000), proi les a number of examples of chemicals put into widespread service and later
discovered to be harmful to human health or the environment. The examples teach important les-
sons, most of which are relevant to emerging contaminants such as 1,4-dioxane. The regulation of
new chemicals entering the marketplace by the European Union's REACH program and California's
2008 Green Chemistry Initiative as well as USEPA's 1998 voluntary High Production Volume
Challenge program, as described in Section 10.8.3, are intended to implement some of these recom-
mendations. The EEA's recommendations regarding the application of the precautionary principle
to chemicals such as ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) and the fuel oxygenate MTBE are listed
below, followed by commentary on their relevance to 1,4-dioxane: *
1. Acknowledge and respond to ignorance, as well as uncertainty and risk, in technology
appraisal and public policymaking.
Comment: In the early years of developing solvent stabilizer compounds, ignorance of the
consequences of adding toxic and persistent compounds to chlorinated solvents prevailed.
Indeed, the environmental consequences of the chlorinated solvents themselves were not
well-appreciated until worker exposure and smog issues arose in the 1960s; however, that
was not enough to motivate water quality protection with cradle-to-grave handling of sol-
vents as hazardous materials and hazardous wastes. This protection came only with the
adoption of the RCRA in 1976. The i rst RCRA regulations were published in 1980 and
implemented in the mid-1980s. Nevertheless, there were pockets of awareness of poten-
tial health consequences of solvent stabilizers, particularly in relation to occupational
exposure. For example, producers of TCE stopped adding epichlorohydrin as a stabilizer
due to its toxicity. As early as 1968, chemical distributors marketed laboratory chemi-
cals for scintillation counting as “dioxane-free” to avoid health problems associated with
* The report lists 12 recommendations, seven of which are proi led here. The other four are less relevant to 1,4-dioxane.