Rubber ducks are symbolic of new way of looking at pollution, speaker says

Rick Smith, co-author of Slow Death by Rubber Duck, was outlining a new way to look at pollution when he spoke in Alton recently. Rubber ducks can symbolize many things, including the latest trends in pollution.

That’s the main point of a book entitled Slow Death by Rubber Duck. The book’s coauthor Rick Smith was in the Alton area recently, addressing a meeting co-hosted by Green T Environmental Awareness and Credit Valley Conservation (CVC).

Smith told the audience the study of pollution represented in this book, which he co-wrote with Bruce Lourie, was “kind of a big science fair project.”

He observed that the term pollution conjures up images of smoke stacks, garbage, smog, sewage, etc.; in other words, external things. The real pollution, he argued, is internal. But to accept that, perceptions have to change.

The pollutants can be found in the home, in food, or even toys.

Smith said a rubber duck is the new image of pollution that people should be thinking about.

A rubber duck is a “familiar household icon.” but the problem is the ducks are not made of rubber. Most of them are made of vinyl, Smith said, “which doesn’t sound quite as good; vinyl duck.”

Vinyl, in its natural state, is hard as rock, he added. To make the ducks, they are treated with chemicals known as phthalates. And little children chew on these things, thus ingesting the chemicals.

He added there are pollutants like that all over the home.

Smith said the idea for the book came to them about four years ago, when they were at a meeting of Environmental Defence. “It seemed to us the pollution debate in Canada had got a little bit stale,” he observed.

He added a colleague suggested looking at the pollutants inside people. They started testing the blood and urine of people all over the country. The tests they were carrying out were expensive, so only about 60 people across the country were tested, including the likes of artist Robert Bateman, along with others not as well known, representing various ages.

The findings were somewhat disturbing, he said.

“We all have miserable levels of pollutants in us all the time,” he told the audience. “You are loaded up with teflon in your body right now.”

“We all have these chemicals in us,” he added. “In this day and age, we’re all affected because these things are in our homes and all around us.”

Smith said the testing included a number of prominent politicians, including Premier Dalton McGuinty and then Progressive Conservative leader John Tory and NDP leader Howard Hampton. He pointed out that conducting such tests on people like that would get them to pay attention.

“It’s a bit tricky, asking politicians to give you their blood and pee in a cup for you,” he quipped.

He also observed that many people might expect that politicians have higher levels of pollution in their bodies than others.

“It turns out to be true,” he said. “Politicians do actually have higher levels of teflon than the rest of us do.”

The results of all the testing revealed hundreds of synthetic chemicals that humans have made themselves.

They also prompted two basic questions; “How did this stuff get in me?” and “how do I get it out?”

Smith said they didn’t have the answers at the time of the tests.

But they did start thinking about the levels of chemicals in people that could be measured.

They found there are a number of types of chemicals that people are exposed to every day, often in the natural course of events.

They include phthalates; PFCs, which are often found in things like non-stick coating, lipstick and windshield fluid; PBDEs, or fire retardants that are found in common things like computers; mercury, which is found in hundreds of items; triclosan, found in some types of hand sanitizers (not those that are alcohol based); pesticides; and bisphenol A.

Are these these things serious?

Smith pointed out things people do every day affects what’s in their bodies. They are everywhere and they can cause serious health problems, including asthma, autism, obesity, cancer, attention deficit disorder, Parkinson’s, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.

“People who eat food and drink water should be alarmed,” he said.

Smith also said government has started takin notice of these issues, having started banning certain materials in items such as baby bottles.

“I think it is a real issue of good triumphing over evil,” he said.