EPA to limit the use of substances found to cause infertility

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on May 19, 2006. It reports that the Environmental Protection Administration in Taiwan plans to restrict the use of two substances in cleaners and detergents because they have proven to be hazardous to animals and humans. These two substances are nonylphenol (NP) and nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE).

NPE is a derivative of NP. It is a nonionic surfactant that is widely used in laundry detergents, dishwashing detergents, toilet cleaners, car cleaners and glass cleaners. When mixed with water, NPE will breaks down into NP. Because NP is insoluble in water, it generally remains in soil, rivers and groundwater.

According to statistics provided by the Environmental Protection Administration, NP was found in 66.7 percent of the rivers in Taiwan. Although the figure fell to 19.5 percent in 2004, officials claimed that NP and NPE are still causing serious environmental hazards. For example, when endocrine-disrupting chemicals or environmental hormones such as NP and NPE are digested by fish or animals, the chemicals may interfere with their hormonal systems and impede growth and reproductive development.

Specifically, in some cases, researchers have found that NP turns the sexual organs of male fish into those of "neutral" or "female" fish. As a result, the male fish have lost their reproductive ability. Worse, in the case of humans, NP and NPE may be passed through the food chain and eventually cause infertility, breast cancer and other hormone-related diseases.

According to the Environmental Protection Administration, in countries of the European Union, the use of NP and NPE has already been limited to no more than 0.1 percent of a product. However, in Taiwan, the two substances are still widely used because they are much cheaper than other chemicals.

So far, the Environmental Protection Administration has already initiated policy discussions with relevant government agencies. Once a decision is made, the use of NP and NPE will be restricted under the same criteria as those used in the European Union by the end of 2006.