Giant Rubber Ducky Lands In Albany

Posted on May 29, 2012

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.

“Look who is calling for policies to identify and remove toxic chemicals from products: nurses, teachers, doctors, scientists, parents, cancer survivors, health advocates, environmental justice groups, retailers, business leaders. Now look at who opposes: chemical industry trade associations, fake front-groups, and their highly-paid lobbyists,” said Kathy Curtis, Executive Director of Clean and Healthy New York and co-leader of the JustGreen Partnership, a collaborative of over 50 organizations which advocates for protections from toxic chemicals. “The Tribune series should be a wake-up call: it's time to get real about toxics in our daily environment, and for the New York State Senate to act now to protect New York's families.”

A number of bills that would remove certain chemicals have already passed the assembly, including two that would ban chemicals sold as flame retardants in certain situations, and the broader bill the parents and advocates were promoting today, the “Child-Safe Products Act.”

In the Senate, Mark Grisanti, Environmental Conservation Committee Chair from Buffalo, NY, has introduced and advanced through his committee a bill ban Chlorinated Tris, a chemical voluntarily pulled from children's pajamas in the 1970's because it can cause cancer. He has been drafting broader legislation similar to the Child-Safe Products Act {but as of this post, had not introduced it.}

“We hear all the time that consumers should decide what products to buy, and the market will respond.  The truth is that without access to the information that helps distinguish between safer and more toxic chemicals and products,” both our businesses and consumers are operating in a unfair marketplace, said David Levine CEO, of the American Sustainable Business Council. “In cases like this, government bodies have a clear role to play in creating access to the necessary information and guidelines, especially when the absence threatens people's health as well as hinders business innovation”

Meanwhile, Curtis urged parents across the state to express their concerns to their Senators. “This isn't a partisan issue. Democrat or Republican, we all want to give our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews the best possible start in life.”