The Kid Safe Chemicals Act (finally!)--

It doesn't sound sexy, groundbreaking, or revolutionary, but it truly is.

New legislation, called the Kid Safe Chemicals Act, seeks to reform one of the oldest, archaic and backwards environmental bills, the Toxic Substances Control Act. The bill was introduced by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), Representatives Hilda L. Solis (D- CA) and Henry Waxman (D-CA), and would take action to protect children from toxins in everyday products.

Since 1976, the Toxic Substances Control Act allowed some 82,000 chemicals, many with little or no testing, to be introduced into the marketplace. And let's look at what has happened since then. According to the Environmental Working Group, babies are born with over 300 industrial chemicals in their blood. All the while rates of cancer, autism, ADHD, learning deficiencies and birth defects are soaring. And of course children's bodies are more susceptible to chemical exposures at low levels, due to their size and rate of development.

Right now, the EPA or any manufacturer does not have to prove that is a chemical is safe before it is used. Let me say that again: a chemical does not have to be proven safe, at all, before being introduced to the market in any product. As many times as I have read this to be true, it never fails to astound me.

With mounting evidence of chemicals in everyday products causing myriad negative health effects (BPA, phthalates, parabens), politicians are finally taking action to change the backwards policy of protecting the manufacturers who continue to pollute our children and the environment.

Enter the Kid Safe Chemicals Act. Here is what this righteous bill would do for our kids, (from the Environmental Working Group). My attempts to summarize this were futile. Each point is worthy of noting, with careful attention, and excitement:

"*requires that industrial chemicals be safe for infants, kids and other vulnerable groups;

*requires that new chemicals be safety tested before they are sold;

*requires chemical manufacturers to test and prove that the 62,000 chemicals already on the market that have never been tested are safe in order for them to remain in commerce;

*requires EPA to review "priority" chemicals, those which are found in people, on an expedited schedule;

*requires regular biomonitoring to determine what chemicals are in people and in what amounts;

*requires regular updates of health and safety data and provides EPA with clear authority to request additional information and tests;

*provides incentives for manufacturers to further reduce health hazards;

*requires EPA to promote safer alternatives and alternatives to animal testing;
protects state and local rights; and

*requires that this information be publicly available."

This would mean that the U.S. would finally move towards a more precautionary approach to regulating chemicals like the European Union and other countries, which has been called for by numerous environmental health advocates, authors and leaders for years.

I'll be keeping a close watch on this one, and will share with you when and how we can take action to support it.

More information:

The Daily Green
Healthy Child, Healthy World