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A clean and safe environment is every person’s birthright. It is not a privilege exclusively for the wealthy and well-connected, but a right for everyone. Safeguarding the natural environment can't be separated from promoting social justice. All people have a right to a world free of exposure to harmful chemicals in our air, water and food, where children grow up healthy with every opportunity to thrive. The JustGreen Partnership seeks to build a healthy economy that provides good jobs producing clean products and services, in which our workplaces, schools, homes, communities and bodies are free of toxic chemicals.
Over 5,000 Children’s Products Contain Toxic Chemicals of Concern to Kids’ Health, Companies Report to Washington State
Albany, NY– Over 5,000 children’s products contain toxic chemicals linked to cancer, hormone disruption, and reproductive problems according to reports filed with the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology). Groups in the JustGreen Partnership co-released an analysis of the reports by the Washington Toxics Coalition and Safer States, which found that makers of kids’ products reported using 41 of the chemicals identified by Washington State as a concern for children’s health, including toxic metals such as cadmium, mercury, and antimony.
Major manufacturers who reported using the chemicals in their products include Walmart, Gap, Gymboree, Hallmark, and H & M. The chemical reports are required under Washington State’s Children’s Safe Products Act of 2008. The reports cover children’s products sold in Washington State from June 1, 2012 to March 1, 2013. Read more...
Cancer Causing Chemicals in our Couches?!
A new peer-reviewed study published today in Environmental Science and Technology shows a carcinogen has been used to replace banned toxic flame retardants in many couches sampled in New York and across the United States. The chemical, a chlorinated Tris known as TDCPP, was removed from children's pajamas in 1977 and has been found in many infant -care products. The toxic flame retardant was the subject of a proposed legislative ban in children's products in New York in 2012, but failed to pass the Senate in the final hours of session. All four couch samples submitted by New Yorkers contained flame retardants: three contained TDCPP, and one contained pentaBDE.
Read more...Assembly hearing on flame retardant chemicals in children’s products brings out many supporters for a ban, only one opponent
Guest blog by Kathy Curtis, CHNY Executive Director
Following last week’s implosion of the chemical industry front group “Citizens for Fire Safety,” the American Chemistry Council (ACC) made its public debut representing the only opposition to banning a cancer-causing chemical in children’s products. ACC’s Stephen Rosario and North American Flame Retardant Alliance’s Jackson Morrill were the first speakers at yesterday’s Assembly hearing on flame retardant chemicals in children’s products. Not only were they the only speakers present to fail to submit written testimony, they appeared to be profoundly unprepared.
They opened their statement by disavowing Citizens for Fire Safety (CFFS), even though the CEO of Albemarle (one of the three CFFS co-founding chemical makers) is on ACC’s board of directors. They also said they would not talk about the recent Chicago Tribune series that exposed CFFS as an industry front group that distorted science, gave misleading testimony, and exaggerated the effectiveness of their products.
Read more...As Industry Front Group Falls, Advocates Call for State and U.S. Senate to Protect Kids from Toxic Chemicals
At an Assembly Hearing on Thursday, doctors, fire fighters, burn victim advocates, scientists, business representatives and others spoke out in favor of removing toxic chemicals added to children’s products as flame retardants. Convened by the Assembly Environmental Conservation and Health Committees, the Hearing focused on the science surrounding the safety and effectiveness of flame retardant chemicals and examined the effectiveness of New York's approach to chemical bans in children's products.
Giant Rubber Ducky Lands In Albany
Parents, Advocates Tell the NYS Senate: Don't Duck Reform – Protect Kids from Toxics
In the wake of the May 22nd National Stroller Brigade for Safe Chemicals, parents, toddlers, and advocates gathered in front of a 25' Rubber Ducky and urged the New York State Senate to protect children from toxic chemicals. They called on the Senate to introduce and pass legislation that would identify chemicals of high concern, select priority chemicals from the high concern list, require children's product makers to report their use, and ultimately phase them out.
Concerns have been raised within the scientific community about the role of synthetic chemicals in the rise of many common diseases and illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, learning disabilities, inability to have children (including both female infertility and damage to sperm), hormone disruption, obesity and diabetes, to name a few. A number of these chemicals are used in products children touch every day. Yet product makers don't disclose the chemicals in their products, and the scientific information is complex.
“As the mom of an adult with autism and developmental disabilities, I can’t help but wonder what she was exposed to in her crib and what toxic toys we might have bought her,” said Julia Walter, who is trained as a special education teacher. “People think of children with autism – they forget this is a lifelong condition.”
“At this point, I feel like I would have to be a toxicologist with a full chemistry lab in my basement just to understand what's in my children's toys, furniture and car seats,” said Sarah Howard, mother of two. “Parents have enough on their plates – they shouldn't have to worry about whether their baby's nursing pillow is leaching dangerous chemicals.”
The last few weeks have seen startling revelations about the tactics some chemical companies have used to keep toxic chemicals in common children's products and other household furnishings. The Chicago Tribune revealed in a four-day, front-page series that makers of “flame retardants” - including those used in nursing pillows, car seats, strollers, changing pads, couches and more – have used “Big Tobacco” tactics to keep their chemicals in use. The series documents the failure of these chemicals in household products to prevent fires, and illuminated the health problems posed by many of them. The three chemical makers – Albemarle, Chemtura, and ICL – have used a front-group called Citizens for Fire Safety Institute to distort both fire science and toxicological studies.
