http://www.enn.com/news/2004-02-17/s_13162.asp
E.U. wants to cut pollution from car tires Tuesday, February 17, 2004 By Reuters BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission adopted a proposal on Monday to cut pollution from rubber tires by limiting the presence of toxic chemicals. Oils added to the rubber to make the tires easier to process and to improve their grip during rainy weather can contain cancer-inducing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), the Commission said. Particles containing the toxic chemicals can be released into the air when tire treads are worn down on roads. A build-up of toxins in the atmosphere can then become a health hazard, it said. "The objective is to reduce the emission of tire debris that contains carcinogens into the environment to an acceptable level and to control the possible risks to health and the environment," the Commission proposal read. Medical experts and environmentalists have previously been concerned about pollution caused by burning old tires and workers' exposure to carcinogens in tyre manufacture. But worries surfaced in the 1990s about road wear putting particles with PAHs into the air. The E.U. executive wants to restrict the level of such chemicals in the oils and encourage oil and tire companies to develop safer substitutes. The European Association of the Rubber Industry (BLIC) welcomed the proposal but said the Commission was moving too fast, as no method had yet been developed to test the level of PAHs in tires. "The industry will have a substitute oil ready by the end of 2009," said BLIC's Secretary-General Fazilet Cinaralp, adding that alternatives were already on the market but tires with the new oils needed extensive road safety checks. The Commission wants the industry to start exclusively using the new, safer oils by the end of 2008. But manufacturers supplying tires to racing cars have an extra four years to comply. The Commission set no date for aircraft tires to meet the stricter rules because of concerns over the impact of new oils on the specific safety requirements of such tires. E.U. industry ministers and the European Parliament have to agree the proposal before it can become law, with the legislation expected to be passed in 2005, officials said. Source: Reuters Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
