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Home , Fireplace, Outgassing

February 12, 2015 Clifford Fred Berkeley, California

Berkeley Community Environmental Advisory Commission RE: Toxic From Residential Washers and Dryers

Thank you for your work on the important issue of toxic outgassing from residential ducts. Please refer to the numerous letters in your December 2014 meeting packet showing that this is a serious issue to many people in Berkeley. Some of the letters reveal that people can be made very ill by breathing their neighbors’ hot dryer sheet exhaust, and actually forced to move to protect their health.

Please refer to the report - TOXIC CHEMICALS IN SCENTED LAUNDRY DETERGENT AND FABRIC SOFTENER AND HEALTH HAZARDS, by University of Washington Professor Anne Steinemann, that a letter writer included in your December 2014 meeting agenda packet. Her research revealed that exhaust from residential use of fabric softeners and dryer sheets contains many very hazardous chemicals, including the proven dioxin and acetaldehyde. It is not just that the exhaust from laundry ducts is unpleasant, it can make you very ill and even kill you. If these same chemicals were leaking from underground storage tanks, very extensive and expensive remediation actions would be required.

According to the EPA, over 15,000 are caused each year by clogged laundry ducts. Laundry cleaning professionals recommend that ducts be inspected and cleaned once or twice a year. I think it would be reasonable for the City to require that owners have their laundry ducts inspected, repaired and cleaned at least once a year. This would reduce the toxic outgassing from residential laundry vents, and decrease the chances of deadly home fires. The City should also require that laundry ducts have caps or filters, so as to further reduce toxic outgassing.

Please don’t shy away from proposing strong regulations just because single family are involved. There is no taboo against regulating the actions of home owners, where the environment or the health of neighbors is involved. Berkeley home owners are prohibited from removing mature live oak and other native trees. Home owners are required to install $6,000 plus sewer laterals upon selling their , as well as required to expend considerable funds to make their houses more energy efficient. By comparison, dryer ducts can be professionally inspected and cleaned for about $125, and laundry duct caps can be installed for about $45. It is reasonable to limit the use of toxic – and unnecessary – laundry products, and to limit the level of outgassing from laundry ducts, so as to protect the environment and to protect the health of nearby neighbors. This can be done very inexpensively.

It has been suggested that mediation can solve disputes between neighbors where a homeowner’s use of dryer sheets and/or fabric softeners, or their refusal to have their ducts cleaned and capped is making their neighbors ill. As some of the letters in your December 2014 meeting packet attest, all too often people just don’t care that their actions are making their neighbors sick. Only tough regulations, and giving neighbors the right to demand that the City inspect and ‘red tag’ the offending homeowner’s laundry ducts, as well as a ban on perfumed dryer sheets and perfumed fabric softeners, can protect the environment and protect the health of nearby residents.

March 9, 2015 Clifford Fred Berkeley, California

TO THE BERKELEY COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COMMISSION

TO PROMOTE CLEAN AIR & STOP THE INCREASED RATE OF IN EAST BAY CITIES, THE CITY OF BERKELEY SHOULD IMMEDIATELY BAN PETROLEUM BASED STAINS, HOT TAR ROOFING & SCENTED DRYER SHEETS. THE CITY SHOULD ALSO IMMEDIATELY ENACT DRYER VENT STANDARDS, AND LAUNDRY VENT & DUCT INSPECTION & CLEANING REQUIREMENTS.

Local officials are rightly concerned about air quality and the increasing numbers of people with asthma. Yet, little is done about from one’s own neighbors. Products and practices like: Petroleum based wood stains and varnish, Hot Tar roofing, Dryer sheets, especially perfumed dryer sheets, and perfumed fabric softeners, Bagged wood mulch – which is invariably moldy, Excessive us of barbeque lighter fluids, People unwilling to control the from their outdoor barbeques, On-site wood chipping of trimmed or felled trees, People who insist on firing up smoky whenever the drops below 68 degrees; And outdoor smoking by handymen and construction workers; Can and do poison the air and sicken nearby residents

These toxic products and practices are especially harmful to children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with asthma and other diseases that compromise the . Many home owners in Berkeley who consider themselves environmentalists and are inconsiderate when it comes to polluting the air that their neighbors breathe.

In Berkeley, most home lots are postage stamp sized, houses are often less than 10 feet apart, and less than five feet from the property line. With the way the can come off the Bay, next neighbors can be more adversely effected by outgassing wood varnishes and scented dryer sheets than the people actually using these products.

While all of the above listed products and practices pollute the air and are very hazardous, petroleum based wood varnishes and stains, hot tar roofing, and dryer sheets - especially scented dryer sheets, are most in need of the City of Berkeley’s immediate attention and should be banned as soon as possible.

PETROLEUM BASED WOOD VARNISHES & STAINS: Many Berkeley homeowners who otherwise consider themselves environmentalists, insist on using highly toxic petroleum varnish on their redwood decks. Fumes from these varnishes outgas into the air for many months and years and contain the proven cancer causing substances arsenic, Clifford Fred letter page 2.

Pentachlorophenol, creosote, and chromium, as well as copper, zinc, and other hazardous substances. See Washington Toxics Coalition website - http://watoxics.org – paints and wood preservatives.

When it rains, these substances get into the ground and the groundwater. There is absolutely new reason to use such products. Redwood lasts for decades without any stain or varnish. Seal-Once and other non-toxic water-based stains are excellent alternatives.

The sale and use of petroleum based wood varnishes and stains should be banned immediately.

HOT TAR ROOFING: The hot steaming tar rising from a massive cauldron can leave a stench for days over an entire block. According to a 1994 article by Jane Sorensen – “Roofing Asphalt and Pitch Fumes, Their Composition and Cycling in the , in Particular Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons,” (which can be found at www.scribd.com) hot tar fumes contain the following cancer causing or otherwise dangerous hydrocarbons:

Naphthalene (NaP)acenaphthylene (AcN)fluorine (Fl) phenanthrene (PhAanthracene (AN)flouranthene (FlA) pyrene (Py) benz(a)anthracene (BaA)chrysene (Chy) benzo(b)flouranthene (BbFlA) benzo(k)flouranthene (BkFlA) benzo(a)pyrene (BaP)indeno(1,2,3,-cd)pyrene (IP)Dibenzo(a,h)anthracene (dBahA) benzo(ghi)pyrene (BghlP)

See www.nomoretarroofs.info, about a campaign to stop tar roofing in Antelope, California. There is no reason why this medieval roofing is still allowed. Roll roofing is excellent for flat and low pitch roofs, has minimal outgassing, is easy to install, lasts longer than hot tar roofs, and does not cost more. Roll roofing s flexible and holds up much better in earthquakes than hot tar roofs. Cold roofing and other non- polluting roofing methods are also available.

Hot tar roofing should be banned in Berkeley immediately.

DRYER SHEETS, ESPECIALLY SCENTED/PERFUMED DRYER SHEETS: A research report by Anne Steinemann - a University of Washington professor of civil and environmental engineering, that was published in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, shows that air vented from machines using the top-selling scented laundry detergent and scented dryer sheet contains found more than 25 volatile organic compounds, including seven hazardous air pollutants – including xylene and toluene. Two of the pollutants found - acetaldehyde and , are classified by the EPA as carcinogens, and according to the EPA have no safe exposure level. In total more than 600 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are being emitted from dryer vents from commonly used laundry products. See her web site at www.drsteinemann.com for the report.

As dryer sheet chemicals are engineered to stick to clothing, the plume of scents from a neighbor’s dryer vent can adhere to trees, to clothes hung outside to dry, and to and to exterior . Clifford Fred letter page 3

The presence of benzene, xylenes and toluene in groundwater has to be monitored thoroughly and completely remediated whenever underground storage tanks are removed or discovered to be leaking. Should not the same rigorous standards apply when benzene, xylenes, and toluene, (as well as acetaldehyde and other hazardous substances) are released into the environment from laundry ducts?

Many testimonials from people whose lives have been made miserable or who were forced to move because of a neighbor’s use of dryer sheets can be found on the internet. See also the website www.youtotallystink.blogspot.com.

Gas dryer exhaust contains , an odorless posing well-known health dangers, depending on the concentration in which it's inhaled. Consider this if your child's is close to your dryer vent. But detergents and fabric softeners are commonplace as well, and as your clothing dries, these vapors are released into your house—and out into the neighborhood—in a chemical cloud. You are just not exposed to single chemicals—you're exposed to blends of chemical. Potential adverse effects of fragrances used in commercial laundry products include respiratory, neurological, endocrine, immune system, and damage to virtually every organ system in your body.

Dryer sheets are also very flammable, so there is an additional public safety argument for banning them.

The City of Berkeley should immediately ban the sale and use of all dryer sheets, especially scented dryer sheets, and scented fabric softeners. If that cannot accomplished immediately, in the interim, there should be an immediate and strong city-wide public education campaign to let people know of the danger of dryer sheets, especially scented dryer sheets. However, only an outright ban of at least scented/perfumed dryer sheets and fabric softeners will protect the public’s health.

LAUNDRY VENT & DUCT STANDARDS, INSPECTION & CLEANING REQUIREMENTS ARE NEEDED: There are apparently no regulations nor oversights in Berkeley concerning residential external laundry vents and ducts, no matter how great the level of toxic chemicals spewing out from them, no matter how odious the smell from them, nor how serious the hazard from clogged laundry vents and ducts.

According to the EPA, over 15,000 house fires are caused each year by clogged laundry ducts. Laundry duct cleaning professionals recommend that ducts be inspected and cleaned once or twice a year. I think it would be reasonable for the City to require that home owners have their laundry ducts inspected, repaired and cleaned at least once a year. This would reduce the toxic outgassing from residential laundry vents, and decrease the chances of deadly home fires. The City should also require that laundry ducts have caps or filters, so as to further reduce toxic outgassing. Dryer ducts can be professionally inspected and cleaned for about $125, and laundry duct caps can be installed for about $45. It is reasonable to limit the use of toxic – and unnecessary – laundry products, and to limit the level of outgassing from laundry ducts, so as to protect the environment and to protect the health of nearby neighbors.

Clifford Fred letter page 4

Homeowners should be given no more than 45 days to have their laundry/dryer vents and ducts cleaned and inspected upon initial passage of such an ordinance. There should be standards as to how far away from neighboring property lines exterior laundry vents and ducts should be.

There should be strict pollution standards for all exterior residential dryer vents and ducts in Berkeley, especially for cancer causing and other hazardous materials.

Homeowners should have the right to demand that the local municipality inspect a neighbor’s dryer vent if they believe it is exceeding pollution standards.

The City should require the installation of dryer duct filters and/or caps on all exterior home dryer ducts, with the caps positioned so that the exhaust is directed away from the closest neighbors.

ON SITE CHIPPING OF TRIMMED AND FELLED TREES: The on-site chipping of tree trunks, branches & leaves spews tree residue in the air for hours. It can cause allergic reactions for people with asthma, children & the elderly. Camphor and cedar in particular leave a strong odor that can adversely affect people with breathing difficulties. In addition, the gasoline from operating the tree chippers puts hazardous chemicals in the air. Last summer, the Parks and Recreation department agreed to chip the branches of several camphor trees on a Berkeley block that were due for trimming off-site. However, they said don’t expect the favor again. Why not? If tree trunks and branches don’t have to be chipped on-site, why do it? Tree services hired by homeowners should also be required to chip or otherwise dispose of cut trees off site.

WOOD SMOKE FROM FIREPLACES AND WOOD STOVES The smoke from wood burning fire places and stoves can be terrible for the eyes and of nearby residents. For people with asthma and the elderly, it can be life threatening. Proper is bad enough, but some people burn junk wood, old and wood treated with toxic chemicals. And it’s not just on cold nights. Some people are burning wood nightly, even when the temperature is in the mid 60’s. Since the City of Berkeley only banned open fireplaces for homes built after 2003, it will be at least 80 years before most homes in Berkeley are banned from having or using open hearth fireplaces. It is time to seriously consider banning open hearth use in all Berkeley homes and well as the use of wood stoves that are not EPA-compliant.

ONE YEAR MORATORIUM If the City of Berkeley is not prepared to immediately and permanently ban petroleum based wood varnishes and stains, hot tar roofing, and dryer sheets - especially scented dryer sheets, then an immediately one year moratorium on these products should be put in place. Safer products and practices are available, so homeowners would not be inconvenienced, the health of nearby residents would be protected, and there would be time to these issues more fully. As noted above, homeowners should be given no more than 45 days to have their laundry/dryer vents and ducts cleaned and inspected upon initial passage of these regulations. Clifford Fred letter page 5.

If the City of Berkeley is serious about protecting the local environment, fighting global warming and implementing its own Climate Action Plan, it should act promptly.

NOTIFICATION Unfortunately, when a project such as tree removal, house painting, or roof removal and construction does not require a discretionary use permit, no advance notice to effected neighbors is required. Thus, an elderly person, a pregnant woman, or a child with asthma could wake up to a noisy and toxic roofing job, paint scaffolding, or chain saws cutting down a tree. There should be reasonable notice to neighbors before these projects can begin

Thank you very much for your work on .improving Berkeley’s air quality and the environment.

Clifford Fred