Under the environmental assessment act, a toxicity assessment is the first step toward new regulations. But Ottawa may choose to rely on voluntary efforts by industry rather than using regulations. The official noted that industry has already made progress in reducing chlorine use, partly due to market pressures. More consumers are demanding unbleached paper products. The average amount of organochlorines released from bleaching mills across Canada is about three kilograms per tonne of pulp, less than half the level of about five years ago, he said.
Pulp mills use bleaching to produce white paper products.