ENVIRONMENTALIST group Ecowaste Coalition on Saturday urged village and youth polls candidates to be aware and go easy on tarpaulin posters laced with cadmium, a cancer-causing chemical.
The group made the appeal as campaign materials—posters, tarpaulins and banners—of candidates in the May 14 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections sprouted all over Metro Manila and various provinces even before the start of the campaign period on May 4.
“Tarpaulins such as those made of polyvinyl chloride plastic often contain cadmium, a chemical that is deemed extremely harmful to human health and the environment,” said Ecowaste Chemical Safety campaigner Thony Dizon.
In related developments:
• The Commission on Elections is looking to adopt a color-coding system in identifying hotspots in the May 14 polls.
“We will have a calibrated categorization system—green, yellow, orange, and red,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez told a press conference Friday.
Jimenez said they were talking with the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines regarding the declaration of election hotspots.
Under the proposed color-coding scheme, code green would mean no problem and cause for concern; while an area will be under code yellow if it has history of political unrest.
• Over 70 barangay officials will face administrative complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman next week for their failure to organize the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council.
Interior Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Diño told Super Radyo dzBB that barangay chairpersons who had not submitted any BADAC report would face charges before the Ombudsman.
After filing the complaints, the DILG will release the list of barangay officials who have failed to organize the BADAC.
According to Diño, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency was also set to release to media on Monday the verified list of barangay officials linked to illegal drugs.
As the campaign period is limited to nine days and will only cover a small geographical area, the group encouraged candidates not to focus their resources on the quantity of tarpaulins and other campaign materials to be made and disseminated.
“Voters will surely remember candidates who have taken the trouble of visiting their homes and neighborhoods not only to shake hands but, more importantly, to chat with them about their concerns and how the barangay and the SK could be of assistance to their lives,” Dizon said.
“From the operational side, the point of the color coding is to basically create an expectation on what will be the Comelec’s response, including the augmentation of forces,” Jimenez added.
He said the plan to adopt the color-coding scheme was part of their preparation for the 2019 midterm polls.
“We are preparing for 2019. We are trying to systematize. It’s part of the ongoing process to improve electoral management,” he said.
Earlier, the PNP identified a total of 7,544 election hotspots throughout the country ahead of the village and youth polls.
To draw attention to this health and environmental threat, Ecowaste had 10 new campaign tarpaulins done by different signage makers in cities of Caloocan, Taguig and Quezon City.
The tarpaulins, measuring 18 x 24 inches and costing P36 to P150 each, carried the names of popular television program characters as candidates.
The group subjected each tarpaulin to chemical analysis using an X-ray fluorescence device to determine if the material contains cadmium, which is used as stabilizer or coloring agent in PVC plastic.
Out of 10 tarpaulins, 10 yielded cadmium in the range of 1,028 to 1,536 parts per million (ppm), way beyond the European Union’s limit of 100 ppm for cadmium in plastics.
The tarpaulins of the following supposed candidates were found to contain the highest concentrations of cadmium: 1) “Crisanta Bautista,” 1,536 ppm, 2) “Ricardo Dalisay,” 1,156 ppm, 3) “Jong Generoso Jr.,” 1,120 ppm, 4) “Matadora,” 1,104 ppm, 5) “Lakas,” 1,087 ppm, and 6) “Perla Nunez,” 1,080 ppm.
“We are concerned that cadmium-containing tarpaulins are adding to the growing toxicity of the waste stream that our society generates,” Dizon said.
The group stated that PVC plastic scraps from signage makers, as well as the used tarpaulins, were disposed of like ordinary trash and hauled to dumpsites and landfills for disposal where their cadmium and other chemical additives can be released as the materials degrade.
“These chlorinated materials may also end up being burned in dumps, cement kilns and incinerators triggering the formation and release of even more toxic pollutants such as dioxins and furans,” said Dizon.
“Perhaps it’s high time for government regulators to adopt a chemical control order for cadmium so as to reduce, if not eliminate, their use in the production of plastic and other materials and lessen their health and environmental impacts,” he added.
Cadmium belongs to the list of priority chemicals determined by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources—Environmental Management Bureau “to potentially cause unreasonable risk to public health, workplace, and the environment.”
The World Health Organization also considers cadmium, along with arsenic, asbestos, lead and mercury, among the “ten chemicals of major public health concern.”
Cadmium, according to WHO, “exerts toxic effects on the kidney, the skeletal and the respiratory systems, and is classified as a human carcinogen.”