Antifreeze Bittering

In light of the lack of blog and wanting to share/rant, I give you the following rant:

To start, antifreeze, even in very small amounts, is lethal to animals and people. I'll focus on animals here. The main ingredient in antifreeze in ethylene glycol, which is very sweet. Animals become poisoned when it drips out of poorly maintained cars and they lap from pools of the bright, green liquid. As side from there being non-poisonous options available, antifreeze manufacturers can add "Bitrex" (denatonium benzoate), the most bitter tasting compound found so far. You may have tasted it in nail polish remover and some shampoos. There are tubes of it available to put on bandages for pets to keep them from chewing. It's quite common, cheap, and has no deleterious effects in small quantities, other than the taste. So, why not add it to antifreeze to prevent ingestion of ethylene glycol?

I haven't found a solid reason yet. The EPA/AWWA (American Water works Association) is concerned that it will leak into ground water and require more intensive processing at plants. I haven't found a concert support source from the EPA on this. But really, wouldn't the small amount of ethylene glycol be more of a concern than the bitter agent? http://www.awwa.org/Communications/news/index.cfm?ArticleID=595

Adding Bitrex would increase the cost of antifreeze by 3 cents per gallon.

Several states have already passed measures making adding the deterrent to antifreeze including Oregon and California. A study published in 2004 stated that it had no effect on the number of poisons in children, but the abstract made no mention of animals. I'm disappointed in Massachusetts that a similar law failed to pass twice. Either the Environmental Lobby or the Antifreeze manufacturer lobby or both are more powerful in MA than I imagined.

There is a federal measure before the legislature now (Antifreeze Bittering Act). Hopefully the measure will pass. I will have to write my elected officials about the matter. That and about the MA budget to continue to fund my tuition break.