On this World Water Day, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Alliance joins its voice to the City of Montreal to ask the governments of Quebec and Canada to legislate against microfibers and perfluorinated compounds (PFAS ) that would threaten the health of humans, fish and animals.
According to Vancouver-based non-profit organization Ocean Wise, the average home in Canada and the United States emits 533 million plastic microfibers per year through home laundry.
Over time, textiles lose synthetic fibers and it is often in waterways that these tiny plastic particles end up.
According to a recent study by a team of researchers from Polytechnique Montréal, “up to 13 tons of microplastics could be diverted from the Montreal wastewater network, by filtering the water discharged by the city’s washing machines”.
In a press release published Monday, the City of Montreal asks the governments of Quebec and Canada to legislate so that “new washing machines on sale in Canada are equipped with filters that collect microfibers from washing”.
This request is also made by the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Alliance, which is made up of 230 municipalities.
Dominique Claveau-Mallet, who was one of the researchers in the study carried out by Polytechnique, told The Canadian Press that France and California have legislated for manufacturers to integrate filters into washing machines.
Reducing purchases of new clothes is also a solution, according to the assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Polytechnique.
“It’s a question of flow, by buying a new garment, you add new material to the flow” and “new clothes release a little more plastic microfibers” than used ones.
Ban PFAS
This alliance, and the City of Montreal also want the sale of products containing perfluorinated compounds (PFAS) to be banned in Canada.
“The idea is to eliminate the problem at the source for PFAS, these eternal pollutants,” said Maja Vodanovic, mayoress of the borough of Lachine, member of the executive committee of the City of Montreal and representative of Montreal at the Cities Alliance.
“No longer producing it, yes, is one thing, but we must also ban the sale of products containing it on Canadian soil; nothing less,” Maja Vodanovic added in a statement.
PFAS are a group of chemicals whose properties can make products resistant to water, oil or temperature changes, or reduce friction. They’re found in a multitude of everyday objects, from non-stick kitchen utensils to fire-retardant foams and stain-resistant fabrics.
Studies over the past few years have linked PFAS to various human health problems. The strongest scientific evidence relates to a possible increased risk of reduced immune response; high cholesterol levels in children and adults; growth problems in fetuses and toddlers; and kidney cancer in adults.
According to Health Canada, citizens are exposed to PFAS primarily through the ingestion of food, drinking water and dust.
Health Canada proposes a threshold of 30 nanograms
The federal health agency has launched a public consultation, which will end on April 12, and which proposes to set a threshold of 30 nanograms per liter, for the sum of the concentrations of total PFAS detected in drinking water.
In Quebec, the samples collected in four municipalities exceed the threshold proposed in Health Canada’s public consultation, according to a study co-authored by Sébastien Sauvé, professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Montreal.
His team analyzed the drinking water of 376 municipalities in the province between 2018 and 2020 and concluded that almost all of the samples analyzed contained PFAS.
PFAS concentrations exceeded 30 nanograms per liter in Val-d’Or in Abitibi, Saint-Donat and Sainte-Adèle in the Laurentians, and Sainte-Cécile-de-Milton in Estrie.
“Personally, with the scientific information on the recognized effects of PFAS on health, I think that we must apply the precautionary principle and do the maximum possible to reduce our exposure to these substances”, wrote Sébastien Sauvé in a published press release. on the University of Montreal website.
At the end of the March 20 city council, the City of Montreal issued a statement in which it stated that “given the precautionary principle in matters of health, the most sensible and effective solution is to prohibit the sale of goods and products with PFAS, in order to eliminate pollution at the source”.
Citizens who wish to participate in the public consultation launched by Health Canada on PFAS can write to the agency by email at [email protected] or send their comments by mail.