Washington is now the first US state to restrict the amount of copper in brake pads used in cars and trucks. On Monday the state Senate approved the final version of the legislation (SB 6557, with analysis here), which now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire who is expected to sign it.
Copper is a problem because it flakes off brakes and winds up on roadways, where stormwater runoff washes it into streams and rivers. Salmon and other aquatic life are harmed by even very low concentrations of copper—and the state estimates that between 70,000 and 320,000 pounds of copper are being washed into Puget Sound each year. On the high end, that’s the equivalent weight of 57.6 million pennies.
(For lots more detail on the problems and sources of copper in stormwater check out these earlier blog posts: Tapping the Brakes on Copper Brake Pads, and Smart, Cheap Stormwater Fixes.)
The new rules will:
- Ban beginning in 2014 the sale of brake pads containing more than trace amounts of lead, mercury, asbestos, cadmium, and chromium.
- Ban beginning in 2021 the sale of brake pads containing more than 5 percent copper.
- Ban beginning in 2025 the sale of brake pads containing more than 0.5 percent copper, provided a safe, acceptable substitute is found.
California initially was the leader in work to get copper out of brake pads, but efforts there stalled last year and don’t appear to have resumed.
Penny photo courtesy of Flickr user Great Beyond under a Creative Commons license.
alexis
why they have to banned the brake pad copper? Better yet, equip your ride with this sensor so that it could tell you when you’ve got problems with your braking system. And when the Brake Pad Sensor detects thinning brake pads, inspect your braking system and replace those worn pads as soon as you can.
Joel Kawahara
I have just been looking at regs related to copper. In 2007 US EPA published new limits and methodologies related to copper in surface water. These limits are related to toxicology studies of freshwater fishes. In this state, we have many Endangered Species Act listed salmon, all of whom spend their first hours of life in freshwater. The Nation Marine Fisheries Service Northwest Fisheries Science Laboratory has done the studies on effects of copper on salmon. Oddly enough it affects salmon’s sense of smell, and possibly the sensory organ called the lateral line, something terrestrial animals don’t have. Having a degraded sense of smell lead to loss of homing capabilities in tested salmon. There were also indications that cues related to predator recognition ( the smell of fear in other fish) may be adversely effected. Given all the regulations related to land use, water withdrawals (in-stream flows) and fishing directly resulting from the ESA listing of salmon, and all the costs of these regulations, it did not make sense to the legislature to ignore the science related to copper in freshwater. i.e. you ask a bunch of folks to fix the salmon problem, but you still let everyone with a car exacerbate the problem… or you continue to find ways to fix the salmon populations problems that are effective and cost-available. Maybe, Alexis, you didn’t get the part of the article that said the copper is embedded in the brake pad material and the dust that wears off with each use contains copper. Just changing worn brakes doesn’t eliminate copper from brake dust.
Joel Kawahara
I have just been looking at regs related to copper. In 2007 US EPA published new limits and methodologies related to copper in surface water. These limits are related to toxicology studies of freshwater fishes. In this state, we have many Endangered Species Act listed salmon, all of whom spend their first hours of life in freshwater. The Nation Marine Fisheries Service Northwest Fisheries Science Laboratory has done the studies on effects of copper on salmon. Oddly enough it affects salmon’s sense of smell, and possibly the sensory organ called the lateral line, something terrestrial animals don’t have. Having a degraded sense of smell lead to loss of homing capabilities in tested salmon. There were also indications that cues related to predator recognition ( the smell of fear in other fish) may be adversely effected. Given all the regulations related to land use, water withdrawals (in-stream flows) and fishing directly resulting from the ESA listing of salmon, and all the costs of these regulations, it did not make sense to the legislature to ignore the science related to copper in freshwater. i.e. you ask a bunch of folks to fix the salmon problem, but you still let everyone with a car exacerbate the problem… or you continue to find ways to fix the salmon populations problems that are effective and cost-available. Maybe, Alexis, you didn’t get the part of the article that said the copper is embedded in the brake pad material and the dust that wears off with each use contains copper. Just changing worn brakes doesn’t eliminate copper from brake dust.
Karen
Given all the regulations related to land use, water withdrawals (in-stream flows) and fishing directly resulting from the ESA listing of salmon, and all the costs of these regulations, it did not make sense to the legislature to ignore the science related to copper in freshwater. i.e. you ask a bunch of folks to fix the salmon problem, but you still let everyone with a car exacerbate the problem…