It's Time for Child-Safe Products, Says Diverse Coalition

Groups Praise Bi-Partisan Advancement of Bill Through Assembly Codes Committee

(Albany) Parents, businesses, health care professionals, health advocates, environmental groups and others praised the bi-partisan vote (17-5) for advancement of A. 3141a, known as the Child Safe Products Act, through the Assembly Codes Committee today.     The legislation, sponsored by Assemblyman Bob Sweeney, creates a framework for identifying and addressing toxic chemicals used in children's products.  Recent studies have shown ongoing widespread use in children's products of chemicals that can cause cancer, increase the likelihood of learning disabilities, disrupt hormones, and mutate DNA.

Organizations in the JustGreen Partnership, a diverse health-based coalition, agree that the Child Safe Products Act will help make New York a healthier place.

"The incidence of learning disabilities and related neurological impairments such as autism is on the rise, and with this comes enormous personal challenges, family challenges, and increasing costs to health, educational and and social support systems," said Stephen Boese, Executive Director of the Learning Disabilities Association of New York State. "Chemicals now found in children's products can cause  learning and other developmental disabilities.  We applaud the Assembly for advancing a framework policy to address toxic chemicals and thereby taking a necessary and important step towards prevention of future incidence of learning and developmental disabilities." 

NYS Assembly Votes Unanimously to Ban Chlorinated Tris

In a bipartisan victory for children's health, the New York State Assembly passed A. 9045, which expands the Tris-free Children and Babies Act to include the form of tris (TDCPP) that was removed from children's sleepwear in 1979 because it can mutate DNA.  Studies have since shown that TDCPP can harm the developing brain,  disrupt hormones, and cause cancer.   The State of California’s Carcinogen Identification Council has determined it is a carcinogen.  The diverse collaboration of health-affected organizations, environmental justice groups, teachers, nurses, business leaders and environmental health organizations, known as the JustGreen Partnership, praised the bill's passage, and urged the New York Senate to follow suit.

Assembly Schedules Hearing on Toxics in Kids Products

The New York State Assembly committees on Environmental Conservation, Health, and Consumer Affairs and Protection are holding a public hearing on the Child-Safe Products Act, and the broader subject of toxic chemicals in children's products. The public is invited to attend and speak - and our Assemblymembers need to hear from parents and others concerned about children's health.

Join JustGreen Partners as we call for the Child-Safe Products Act to be made into law!

Where: 250 Broadway, New York, NY - Assembly Hearing Room

When: 10 am, Monday, December 5, 2011

To testify: Fill out this form, and call Steve Liss at 518-455-5787.

Full details about the hearing can be found here.

On the Money: BPA Found on Receipts, Dollar Bills

A new study was released today giving new meaning to the phrase “toxic assets.”  On The Money: BPA on Dollar Bills and Receipts set out to investigate how widely stores use thermal receipt paper containing bisphenol A (BPA), and whether this hormone-disrupting chemical is escaping onto the money next to these receipts in people’s wallets.   

Researchers found that half of the thermal paper receipts tested had large quantities of freely available BPA; 95% of the dollar bills tested positive for lower amounts.  Unlike BPA in water bottles and other products, BPA on thermal paper isn’t chemically bound in any way: it’s a powdery film on the surface of receipts.  Data from this report indicate that this highly toxic chemical easily transfers to our skin and likely to other items that it rubs against.

Reforming laws on toxic chemicals could save billions

 The Health Case for Reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act, a recent report by the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Campaign, shows that the U.S. has the opportunity to prevent rising rates of chronic disease and reduce health care costs by overhauling federal chemical policy. Evidence is strong and growing that chemical exposures contribute significantly to the rise in many chronic diseases, according to this new report synthesizing peer-reviewed science. 

As the U.S. debates the costs of health care and its reform and New York State continues to be in a fiscal crisis, “The Health Case” documents the enormous health care costs of treating cancer, learning and developmental disabilities, asthma and other diseases and conditions linked to chemical exposure, according to recent studies. By updating toxic chemical laws, the report found that Congress would reduce exposure to chemicals contributing to chronic diseases. 

Is It In Us?

With recent headlines about toxic chemicals in everything from cars and computers to lipstick and toys, 5 New Yorkers and 30 other Americans - including a commercial fisherman from Alaska, a 9/11 first responder from New York, a U.S. naval veteran from Illinois, a Massachusetts minister, a Connecticut State Senator, a Michigan seventh grader, and a stay-at-home mom in Minnesota - volunteered to find the answer to one simple question: If toxic pollution is in products, is it in us?

The simple answer: yes. The project found toxic chemicals in every person tested.  You can see the full results at  www.IsItInUs.org.