DENR to stop use of toxic jewelry cleaners

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is ready to prohibit the use of jewelry cleaners that contain toxic substances. This move came after a recently held multi-sect oral consultative meeting where representatives of civil society and industry sectors clamored for tighter measures on the use of cyanide-based silver jewelry cleaners. "The meeting has allowed the different agencies involved to identify the concrete actions to take on this issue," Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said in a statement Monday. The DENR in 1997 issued Administrative Order 39 – the Chemical Control Order for Cyanide and Cyanide Compounds – which tasked the Environmental Management Bureau to control the industrial importation, handling, use, distribution, and disposal of cyanide and cyanide compounds. The order applies to all importers, distributors, and industrial users – electroplating, mining and metallurgy, steel manufacturing, plastic production, and jewelry making. At the meeting, it was agreed that the Health and Trade departments review jewelry-cleaning substances for certification. "A ban on the use of such substances will also provide legal basis for confiscation and help put a stop to illegal 'cottage operations' that proliferate their use," Paje said. He pointed out that all concerned sectors need to heighten their information campaign on the health risks of cyanide-based jewelry cleaners. "Accidents can be avoided if adults practice safety standards in their own homes, by properly storing, sealing and conspicuously labeling potentially harmful chemicals," he added. There were nine deaths in the first half of the year due to jewelry cleaner-related accident, the University of the Philippines' National Poison Management and Control Center reported. —JE, GMANews.TV