Drive Less or Switch to Biodiesel!
Vehicle exhaust emits dioxins due to inefficient combustion. The city of Palo Alto uses a biodiesel blend for landfill and golf course diesel engines. Biodiesel is like diesel fuel except that it is produced from natural renewable resources -- vegetable oils, such as soy, canola, tallow and restaurant greases. For more information about biodiesel and Palo Alto's strategy see our Biodiesel Factsheet.

Buy Chlorine-Free Paper Products
The City of Palo Alto started purchasing processed chlorine-free* (PCF) office paper, letterhead, and paper towels that are processed without chlorine and contain post-consumer recycled content.While the recycled-content portion may contain conventionally bleached fibers, the balance of the paper pulp is bleached without using any chlorine-containing compounds.

*"Processed Chlorine Free" is a trademark that designates papers containing feedstock fibers which meet EPA guidelines for post-consumer content and is bleached without chlorine or chlorine-containing compounds.

For more information please go to Conservatree

Purchase PVC Alternative Products
PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is a common plastic often referred to as "vinyl." PVC contains more than 50 percent chlorine by weight. As a result of PVC's relatively high chlorine content, its production, use, and disposal have been linked to the generation of dioxins.

Almost all products currently produced using PVC are available in alternative materials.

PVC Products	Alternative Products
Plastic Bottles	Glass bottles, HDPE (high density polyethylene)
Cling Film	Non-PVC cling film is available
Window frames, doors and furniture	Use wood from Forest Stewardship Council accredited forests or reclaimed timber
Above ground drainage	Stainless steel, iron, copper, aluminum HDPE
Below ground pipes	Vitrified clay HDPE
Flooring	Cork, linoleum
Electrical cable and wiring	ethylene= propylene rubbers, zero halogen low smoke cabling (OHLS)

For more information on PVC alternatives visit the Greenpeace PVC alternatives database of the Non-PVC purchasing by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.

For a list of PVC Alternative products in the medical field see our Medical Page.

Reduce Woodsmoke Pollution
In the Bay Area, woodsmoke can easily become a water pollution problem, because some of the pollutants in the air fall back into the Bay and our watersheds. According tot he Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Woodsmoke contributes 39 percent of dioxin air emissions to the Bay Area! The U.S. EPA has listed San Francisco Bay as impaired due to the buildup of dioxins and other contaminants in fish tissues. In 2000, Palo Alto woodsmoke concerns led to an ordinance allowing only gas fireplaces to be built in new homes.

Gas logs, gas stoves, gas inserts, and even new wood stoves are all alternatives that can reduce or elimnate woodsmoke pollutants. For some general information about these alternatives there is a nice article available from http://www.onthehouse.com/

Reduce Pollution from Your Existing (Traditional) Fireplace!
Minimize use of your traditional fireplace. Save that romantic glow for special occasions! If you do burn wood follow these guidelines:

Burn only seasoned hardwood (oak, almond, madrone, apple).
Minimize burning of softwoods (pine, poplar, cedar, redwood).
Never burn garbage, plastic, glossy or colored paper, or scrap wood that has been preserved, painted, or stained.
Make sure the fire is very hot and has a good air flow. Don't try to "choke it down".
Burn manufactured ("densified") logs. Logs made of compressed sawdust burn slowly at high temperatures, producing less smoke and emitting 50 percent less fine particulates, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Dioxin Links
Bay Area Dioxin Project through the Association of Bay Area Governments

PBDEs and Other Emerging Contaminants
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are another class of compounds that are similar to dioxins in many respects. They bioaccumulate in the food web and are considered potential endocrine disruptors. An endocrine disruptor is a compound that that can interfere with the normal hormone function in humans and animals that controls metabolism, growth and reproduction. As we learn more about these chemicals and their fate, transport, and effects we add them to our list of emerging contaminants.

Tracking the Fate of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) at the RWQCP (2003) (PDF) attempts to characterize the fate and transfer of PBDEs at the wastewater treatment plant in Palo Alto, California, and compare the results with other treatment plants throughout the world.

Tracking Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE) Releases in a Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent, Palo Alto, California, USA (pending Environmental Science and Technology article) (2004) (PDF).
ABSTRACT - Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are commonly used flame-retardants that are now ubiquitous environmental contaminants. Wastewater treatment plants are one source of PBDEs to the environment through their discharge of treated effluent and land application of sewage sludge. Effluent and sludge were collected and analyzed for PBDEs at a wastewater treatment plant in California. Total concentration of PBDEs ranged from 61-1440 µg/kg dry wt in the sludge and 4-29,000 pg/L in discharged effluent. The congeners with the highest abundance in sludge were BDE-47, BDE-99, and BDE-209, while in treated effluent BDE-47 and BDE-99 were the most abundant. BDE-47 and BDE-99 are major congeners of the penta-formulation while BDE-209 composes the deca-formulation. The sum of the major congeners in the penta-formulation (BDE-47, 99, 100, 153 and 154) comprises 88% of the total PBDEs in the effluent, while BDE-209 is only 6%. Based on the loading analysis, the total PBDE concentrations loaded to the San Francisco Estuary through effluent discharge from this wastewater treatment plant is 2 lbs/year (0.9 kg/year).

Pharmaceuticals disposed of in the sanitary sewer can also impact the Bay. See our ad asking residents not to discharge pharmaceutical products (2004) (PDF).

Triclosan and other Antibacterial Agents
The Emerging Contaminants Workgroup of the Santa Clara Basin Watershed Management Initiative (SCBWMI) has produced a white paper titled "Environmental Emergence of Triclosan" (2006).

Executive Summary
Antibacterial agents, such as triclosan, are common ingredients in many everyday household and personal care products. There is a growing concern about the emergence of these chemicals in the environment. The SCBWMI Emerging Contaminants Workgroup reviewed the state of knowledge regarding triclosan, the most common of these antibacterial agents. The Workgroup recommends the adoption of strategies to minimize the occurrence of antibacterial agents and their breakdown products in surface water. Proposed next steps, messages and audiences are presented in Section 5. Based on a comprehensive literature review, the SCBWMI Emerging Contaminants Workgroup draws the following conclusions:

• The American Medical Association has not endorsed the necessity or efficacy of triclosan and other antibacterial agents in personal care products
• Antibacterial agents and their degradation products are found in many tested U.S. surface waters, including San Francisco Bay
• One such agent, triclosan is acutely and chronically toxic to aquatic organisms
• Triclosan bioaccumulates in fish and human tissue
• Triclosan may degrade into other toxic compounds
• Triclosan may encourage antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria
• Physicians indicate that the best germ fighting measure continues to be the actual act of hand washing with regular soap, or for extra assurance, alcohol or peroxide-based hand sanitizers