It’s no secret that I have a lot of car trouble. We have a
love-hate relationship and I’m fortunate to be able to ride
my bike to work most days. On a trip to the mechanic
recently I got to thinking about our vehicles and traffic’s
impact on water quality. With over 6 million vehicles in the
LA region, and infamous traffic jams, we have some pretty
grimy roads.
Everyone knows that cars cause air pollution, but they are
also a significant source of water pollution. It doesn’t have
to do with fuel economy though, it has to do with braking.
Vehicle brake pads contain heavy metals, asbestos and as
much as 20% copper. Each time you step on the brakes, the
pad grinds against the disk and small amounts of debris are
released onto streets, into the air and, eventually, into waterways. When it rains, all of the grime and copper is wasted
into gutters, through the storm drains to our rivers, and to
the Santa Monica and San Pedro Bays.
Copper is toxic to many aquatic organisms like phytoplankton, which is the basis of the marine food chain and whose
health affects the entire ecosystem. In high amounts, copper can also impair salmon’s sense of smell and affect their
ability to navigate upstream to spawning grounds. Mercury,
another metal found in brake pads,
bio accumulates in fish tissue and
can render fish dangerous to eat.
New
California
laws to
control
pollution
from cars.
Something to think about next
time you are sitting in stop-and-go
traffic on the 405, huh?
There is good news though, in
2010 Governor Schwarzenegger
signed into law Senate Bill (SB)
346 that phases out copper from
vehicle brake pads in order to protect water quality and our aquatic
resources. This new law comes
into effect January 1, 2014 and
is modeled after the Better Brake
Law in Washington. It starts with the ban of brake pads containing more than trace amounts of heavy metals (i.e. cadmium, lead and mercury) and asbestos and then in 2021 it bans
brake pads containing more than 5% copper. By 2025 copper
must be eliminated from new brake pads almost entirely.
Starting next year you will be able to see a SAE Environmental Marking letter “A” on brake pads sold in California,
Better
Brakes for
Clean Water
An LA Waterkeeper Blog