Healthy stuff coverage after the December 2009 release of data.
December 8, 2009
WXYZ ABC: Detroit, MI
Healthy stuff coverage after the December 2009 release.
WLNS CBS Lansing, MI
Healthy stuff coverage after the December 2009 release.
KSTC Minneapolis MN
Healthy stuff coverage after the December 2009 release.
December 3, 2009
Senate & State Voices Call for Action on Toxic Substance Control Act
In addition to our release of new toys test results, yesterday (December 2nd) the Senate held an important oversight hearing on Toxic Substance Control Act featuring EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. In addition 13 states issued eight recommendations that they think federal lawmakers and regulators should use to make sure that the planned federal revisions protect public health and the environment. All of these voices and activities are building momentum towards the biggest reform of chemical policy in our life times. A few quotes from yesterday:
EPA Adminstrator Lisa Jackson:
“But let me be clear – this is no substitute for meaningful reform of the underlying law. The need for fundamental TSCA reform has been recognized by industry groups, including the American Chemistry Council, environmental groups, public health groups, several States and cities, and many other groups who have all called on Congress to Act. I too call on Congress to act on this issue and give EPA the tools to adequately protect human health and the environment.
The time has come to bring TSCA into the 21st Century. EPA looks forward to working with this committee on this very important issue.”
You can read the full statements from the Senate hearing below:
Statement of Lisa Jackson, Administrator United States Environmental Protection Agency
Statement of Linda Birnbaum, Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, and Director, National Toxicology Program U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Statement of John Stephenson, Director Natural Resources and Environment United States Government Accountability Office
View the complete hearing here: http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.LiveStream&Hearing_id=129f8be4-802a-23ad-4217-c8c5900bf3db
From Maine:
“Current federal chemical regulations fail to adequately protect the nation’s citizens and environment from toxic chemicals and unsafe products,” said David Littell, commissioner of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. “The effects of exposure to toxic chemicals on human health, the environment and the economy are enormous and often avoidable.”
From Washington State:
“Dealing with toxic contamination after the fact is ultimately futile [because] the human, environmental and economic damage is already done,” said Ted Sturdevant, director of the Washington State Department of Ecology. “We need a federal law that prevents contamination from happening in the first place, and phases out the harmful chemicals that are already in widespread use. That’s common sense, but it’s not the system we have today.”
Read more on the state recommendations for chemical policy reform from the Seattle Post Intellegencer
December 1, 2009
Today HealthyStuff.org released our annual toy screening and we had some surprising findings
The number of products with lead exceeding current federal standards for lead in toys (300 ppm) decreased by 2/3 (67%) since 2007. However, one in three of all toys tested (32%) this holiday season still contained one or more harmful chemical including lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury. In addition, 18 percent of the products tested this holiday season (119 of 669) still contained detectable lead, including the Barbie Bike Flair Accessory Kit, Dora the Explorer Activity Tote, and the Kids Poncho from WalMart. PVC, a ‘worst in class’ plastic because of life cycle concerns, is still present in 42% of children’s products.
But what does all of this test data tell us? Hazardous chemicals are still far too commonplace in everyday consumer products. One quarter of all pet products had detectable levels of lead, including seven percent with levels higher than 300 ppm – the current Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standard for lead in children’s products. Sixty-four percent (64%) of the plastic women’s handbags contained lead over 300 ppm. Consumers are faced with these unneccesary hazards in their homes, offices and vehicles.
The well publicized and oft criticized CPSC reforms of 2008 were clumsily implemented but did put in place critical protections against hazardous chemicals in children’s products. But most products, including pet products and women’s handbags are not regulated by the CPSC. And the CPSC only regulates eight chemicals in children’s products and has no system in place to adequately deal with the thousands of other chemicals on the market or provide incentives for companies to develop our future, safer chemicals.
So why will the TSCA reform of 2009 be different from the CPSC reform of 2008? The TSCA reform package being introduced is partly based on a real-world tested regulatory system from Europe, REACH. The REACH-type regulation has already had a “trial by fire” and will not have unintended consequences. TSCA reform will also shifts the burden upstream to chemical manufacturers, not chemical users like manufacturer and retailers, to develop hazard information of chemicals. Much more efficient, cost effective for chemical manufacturers to do this then 100’s of individual manufacturers.
Ultimately, TSCA reform package addresses the root problem in a common sense way, including phasing out the chemicals we know our toxic, requiring chemical manufactures to provide chemical hazard information and promoting the use and development of safer chemical alternatives.
Today, the U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee will hear testimony from three key federal agencies about the need to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) – the obsolete law passed in 1976 to regulate chemicals. To date, the EPA has required testing on only about 200 of the more than 80,000 chemicals that have been on the market since the law passed 33 years ago. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Representative Bobby Rush (D-IL) are expected to introduce a new bill soon to reform this outdated law.
Also today, environmental commissioners from 13 states released principles that call for updating and strengthening TSCA while preserving state implementation and management rights. These principles include: protecting the most vulnerable including pregnant women and children; requiring manufacturers to provide health, safety, and use data on chemicals; demonstrating that chemicals in commerce are safe; identifying safer alternatives to toxic chemicals in keeping with the principles of green chemistry; and, assessing the safety of emerging chemicals of concern including nanoscale materials before they enter into widespread commerce. The following states joined in issuing the principles: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
HealthyStuff.org is a project of the Ecology Center.