"If the public becomes more aware of the environmental dangers of
lead wheel weights and is given alternative wheel balancing choices then
there will be a decrease in lead entering the environment. It is
important that we make sure that the water we drink and the air we
breathe is free of lead." TEAM DEAD WEIGHT


TEAM "DEAD WEIGHT" PLAYS ROLE IN NEW CALIFORNIA LEAD WHEEL WEIGHT BAN.

October 12, 2009

Governor Schwarzenegger announced he signed a ban on the sale and
installation of lead wheel weights that will help improve water quality
throughout the state.

Prior to the lead wheel weight ban signing, Charles Magulis from the
California Center for Environmental Health (CEH) told Team Dead Weight in
an urgent email dated September 9, 2009 that:
"I'm pleased to report that yesterday the bill passed the legislature!
(you can see the bill text at http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/Bills/SB_757 ).
Now the bill goes to Gov. Schwarzenegger for his signature. We are optimistic
that he will sign the bill into law, but we need to be sure he hears from
Californians who want the law adopted. So we are putting together an action
alert for our members urging them to contact the Governor and ask him to
sign the bill. As part of our action alert, I would like to mention your
story, to highlight to the Governor that if he knew as much about wheel
weights as Team Dead Weight knows, he would sign the bill immediately.
I also found the attached image on your website,(click here.) and we'd love
to use this in our alert as well."

CA wheel weights bill signed!
----- Original Message -----
From: Charles Margulis, CEH
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 11:30
Subject: CA wheel weights bill signed!

Hi Bill -
check it out!
charles

Governor Schwarzenegger announced he signed two bills

that will help improve water quality throughout the state:

http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/print-version/press-release/13573/

State of California - Office of the Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger
PRESS RELEASE

10/12/2009   GAAS:613:09   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Protect Environment,



 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
·         SB 757 by Senator Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica) to prohibit the sale and installation of lead wheel weights in California. Lead weights have long been used to balance vehicle wheels, but research over the last decade has shown that lead wheel weights falling off cars and trucks are a major, unregulated source of lead pollution in drinking water.  According to the U.S. Geological Survey, about 2,000 tons of these weights fall from vehicles every year and into roadways. The European Union already bans the use of these weights. 
·         AB 1366 by Assemblymember Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) will improve water quality by addressing the problem of excess salinity caused by residential water softeners. The bill gives greater discretion to local water agencies where surface and groundwater supplies are particularly susceptible to salt contamination with additional authority to manage these salt discharges. The bill applies to the South Coast, Central Coast, San Joaquin Valley, Tulare Lake and the lower half of the Sacramento Valley hydrologic regions.

 

 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 14:10
Subject: California law & request

As you may recall, our legal settlement 
ended the use of lead wheel weights in California by Chrysler and the three 
leading makers of wheel weights. However, there are still imported wheel weights 
with lead that can come into California. So, after we finalized the settlement, 
CEH began to work with the state legislature on a bill that would ban the sale 
of ALL leaded wheel weights in California. I'm pleased to report that yesterday 
the bill passed the legislature! (you can see the bill text at 
http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/Bills/SB_757 ).
Now the bill goes to Gov. Schwarzenegger 
for his signature. We are optimistic that he will sign the bill into law, but we 
need to be sure he hears from Californians who want the law adopted. So we are 
putting together an action alert for our members urging them to contact the 
Governor and ask him to sign the bill.
As part of our action alert, I would like 
to mention your story, to highlight to the Governor that if he knew as much 
about wheel weights as Team Dead Weight knows, he would sign the bill 
immediately. I also found the attached image on your website,(click here.) 
and we'd love to use this in our alert as well
(with a credit to Team Dead Weight, of course).
If we have your permission, I will send you 
a draft of the alert ASAP (hopefully by tomorrow, Friday at the latest).
Many thanks!
charles
 
Charles Margulis
Center for Environmental Health
Oakland, CA 94602

Environmentalist, Health Groups Petition EPA to Ban Lead Weights

May 28, 2009 - The Ecology Center, Sierra Club and broad coalition of groups have filed a formal petition asking EPA to ban the use of lead wheel weights in the U.S. starting in January 1, 2011. If the petition is accepted, EPA will open up a comment period during which comments in support of the petition may be filed with EPA. Read Press Release

Sign up to receive updates.

2009 TSCA Peition Documents:

On May 17, 2005 the Ecology Center filed a previous citizens petition under the federal Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) asking EPA to develop rules which would ban the sale of lead wheel weights in the U.S. The petition, which received support from the Governor of Maine; state officials in Minnesota and Wisconsin; and the Steel Manufacturers Association, could have led to the establishment of a national lead wheel weight phase-out timeline. However, on August 8, 2005 EPA rejected the petition citing inadequate information on exposure and risk associated with lead wheel weights. The previous petition and supporting documents are listed below.


CEH: Lead in Wheel Weights - On the Road Out

May 19, 2009
CEH: Lead in Wheel Weights - On the Road Out

Wheel-weight 

 

Meanwhile, in Iowa a team of middle school students are taking on the problem, and winning! “Team Dead Weight” from West Branch Middle School in West Branch, Iowa yesterday were announced the Grand Prize winners of a nationwide We Can Change the World sustainability competition. Team members Jathan Kron (age 12), Justin Roth (age 13) and Brennan Nelson (age 12) contacted CEH earlier this year, and we were happy to provide a letter of support for their project and information on our succcessful legal work to end the use of lead-based wheel weights by the major producers for the California market. In an email to CEH, Team Dead Weight members wrote, "If we win the contest, we will use the opportunity to work for pilot programs, education, and lobbying our state legislators. It is our hope that we will be able to get a bill passed in Iowa that will outlaw the use of lead in wheel weights." Go Team Dead Weight - congratulations on your great work and the Grand Prize!  TO READ MORE PLEASE CLICK HERE.


 

February 4, 2009

 

To Whom It May Concern:

 

The Center for Environmental Health is a nonprofit working to protect the public from exposure to harmful chemicals in consumer products and in our food, air and water. We are pleased to write in support of efforts to end the use of lead in auto wheel weights in Iowa.


Last year, our work resulted in the nation's first legally-binding agreement to eliminate the use of lead-based wheel weights by major companies in California. This agreement will protect millions of residents of our state from the potential lead poisoning threats when wheel weights fall off of vehicles and contaminate drinking water supplies. As the U.S. Geological Survey noted, lead wheel weights "drop to the road surface where they become abraded by vehicle traffic, eventually becoming dissipated into the environment by wind and storm water."

 

In much of Europe and Asia, government rules have required auto makers to eliminate lead wheel weights, but Americans do not yet enjoy this protection. Iowa would be wide to join California and other states that are considering action to protect their residents from this unnecessary lead threat to their drinking water.

 

We applaud the work of the Team Dead Weight students of West Branch Middle School, and urge you to support them in their efforts to end this needless release of lead into the environment. 



Chrysler, Wheel Weight Makers Agree to Eliminate Lead

Companies Forced to Reformulate Products for the California Market Due to 
Water Pollution Threat from Lead-based Wheel Weights 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Legal Action Cites Chrysler, Producers for Continuing Use of Lead-Based 
Wheel Weights 

Public Health Watchdog Says Automotive Wheel Weights Pose Pollution Threat 
to California Drinking Water 

For Immediate Release - Thursday, August 23, 2007
CONTACT: Caroline Cox, CEH, 510-654-4492 x308, 541-654-2626 (cell); 
Jeff Gearhart, Ecology Center, 734-945-7738


University of Iowa Hygienic Lab Actual Testing Photos
of Steel and Lead Wheel Weights Using EPA TCLP.



Science research team "Dead Weight" recognizes the 
need to protect the public from exposure to lead hazards. 
There are no federal regulatory controls governing use of lead 
wheel weights. Environmental health hazards associated with lead 
wheel weights are a preventable problem. People are exposed to 
lead fragments and dust when lead wheel weights fall from motor 
vehicles onto the nation's roadways and are then abraded and 
pulverized by traffic. Lead wheel weights on and alongside roadways 
can contribute to soil, surface and groundwater contamination and 
pose hazards to downstream aquatic life.
       Lead negatively affects every bodily system. While it is 
injurious to people of all ages, lead is especially harmful to 
fetuses,children, and adults of childbearing age. Effects of lead 
on a child's cognitive, behavioral, and developmental abilities may 
necessitate large expenditures of public funds for health care and 
special education. Irreversible damage to children and subsequent 
expenditures could be avoided if exposure to lead is reduced.
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