2011 State Policy Victories Curb Toxic Chemicals While Congress Lags Behind

Go, states, go! 

(Here is a guest post from our friends at Safer States.  I love good news.  Way to go states.  Congress, where are you?) 

2011 held many public health and environmental victories, including the passage of nine policies in seven states aimed at protecting the public from toxic chemicals. Despite well-funded opposition from the chemical industry, states passed legislation and four states took administrative action regulating dangerous chemicals including bisphenol A (BPA), cadmium, formaldehyde, and chlorinated tris in daily consumer products often given to children. A full list of the state policies is below.

Broad support was shown from both parties in favor of stronger protection of children's health and the environment from dangerous chemicals with 99% of Democrats and 86% of Republicans supporting these policies in 2011.

Representative Dana Dow, a Republican legislator from Maine and a leader on Maine's kid-safe product policy stated, "This is not Republican legislation or Democratic legislation; this is common sense legislation.  This is about giving our children a healthy future and our businesses the security of selling safer products that can help lower health costs for everyone.  Many of our federal chemical standards are outdated and ineffective.  We have a moral and ethical responsibility to follow the best science and get unnecessary dangerous chemicals out of everyday products."  

Meanwhile, Congress has yet to pass pending legislation to overhaul the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In April, Senator Frank Lautenberg introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 (S.847) which would increase chemical safety, protect vulnerable sub-populations such as pregnant women and children, and create incentives for new, safer chemicals. The bill would reform TSCA, which has proven ineffective in identifying and reducing the use of toxic chemicals. Scientific research links toxic chemical exposures in early life to some of the most serious public health threats of our time, such as breast and prostate cancer, infertility, and learning and developmental disabilities.

"Parents around the country are tired of worrying if every product they purchase could contain toxic chemicals harmful for their child," said Sarah Doll, National Director of SAFER States.  "Fortunately state governments across the country have recognized the need to replace harmful chemicals with safe alternatives. It's time for the federal government to step up and join the efforts of state leaders to protect public health. "

In total, 18 states have passed over 80 chemical safety laws in the last nine years by an overwhelming margin with broad bipartisan support. Last year, two national health-based coalitions, SAFER States and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, released a report – Healthy States: Protecting Families from Toxic Chemicals While Congress Lags Behind demonstrating the overwhelming political support statewide for this issue. With federal action uncertain, state governments are expected to continue introducing and passing laws to curb toxic chemicals in 2012.

Highlights of 2011 State Progress:

·   California and Illinois passed resolutions urging Congress to update TSCA. The state resolutions highlight important state and federal priorities.

·   Connecticut was the first state in the nation to ban BPA in thermal receipt paper.

·   Delaware and Massachusetts banned BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups.

·   Maine strengthened the Kids Safe Products Act and banned BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups and reusable food and beverage containers. By January of 2012 Maine's Chemicals of Concern list will be updated and a list of up to seventy chemicals will be selected as Chemicals of High Concern based upon likely exposure to children or fetuses. In addition, future Priority Chemicals, which the State may take action to research or phase out, will be drawn from the Chemicals of High Concern list. The state will establish threshold reporting levels to indicate when manufacturers must disclose their use of Priority Chemicals in children's products. The BPA ban goes into effect January 2012.

·   Maryland banned BPA in infant formula containers and cadmium in jewelry for children. The BPA law goes into effect in 2014, and adds to the 2010 ban on BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups. The state also restricted cadmium in jewelry for children under 13, joining other states including CA, CT, IL and MN.  The new law takes effect on July 1, 2012.

·   Washington became the first state to require manufacturers of children's products to report what toxic chemicals are present in their products. The rule targets chemicals linked to cancer, hormone disruption, and reproductive abnormalities in a wide range of children's products, including toys, clothes, and shampoos.

·   Massachusetts, under the Toxics Use Reduction Act, determined formaldehyde and hexavalent chromium to be high-risk chemicals. Companies now have to report and carefully plan their use of these chemicals.

·   Minnesota published a list of nine Priority Chemicals of High Concern that are found in the human body, the environment, household dust, water or children's products. The list includes three phthalates (BBP, DBP, DEHP); two halogenated flame retardants (deca and HBCD); as well as lead, cadmium, formaldehyde and BPA. This list is a subset of the list of 1,756 Chemicals of High Concern that are persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic that was published by MN in July 2010.  

·   New York was the first state in the nation to ban products for kids and babies containing the toxic tris flame retardant TCEP, a chemical linked to cancer. Also the New York State Interagency Committee on Procurement voted to approve policy requiring all state agencies to consider avoiding 85 toxic chemicals in products, services and technologies purchased by the state. These 85 chemicals include known and probable human carcinogens, persistent bio-accumulative toxins (PBTs), PBDE flame retardants, PFOA (teflon-related chemicals) and BPA. Finally, this year the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation began enforcing a decades-old law requiring companies that manufacture household cleaning products to disclose their ingredients.  This will be the first time in the U.S. that companies will be required to disclose a complete picture of chemicals used in cleaning products.

"Every year states around the nation will chip away at our federal chemicals policy until products on store shelves – especially those intended for children – are safe," said Anne Hulick, registered nurse and coordinator with the Coalition for a Safe and Healthy Connecticut. "Mounting research on the health impacts of toxic chemicals, lack of Congressional action, and continued consumer concern will continue to move state governments to protect their citizens from harmful chemicals."

Good News: Scholastic Limits Corporate Sponsored Curriculum

I love sharing good news-- because so much of what I cover is what plaques us:  problems with our food systems, chemicals in everyday products, the pollution of our air, water, soil and communities, the marketing of childhood....to name a few.

When you doubt the power of real people-- over massive multi-national corporations-- it helps to seek out stories that show how we can and do make a difference.  

Take this story, from Vermont's own news weekly, Seven Days.  This man clearly knows the value of perseverance. He tireless advocated for the health and welfare of the Winooski river for years.  And, eventually, he won.  Read it and be ready to be inspired.  He's not your usual environmental activist!

Next up, the battle for the heart and soul of our society-- education.  I reported here years ago that I had stopped giving out Scholastic Book Club orders to my students because of the video games, plastic trinkets, and mass market media products they contained.  Recently, I wrote about an energy curriculum, developed by Scholastic with the support of the coal industry, that didn't list one single drawback of using coal as an energy source.  Because of a parent, educator, and activist driven campaign, Scholastic stopped selling these curricular materials and promised to reevaluate its sponsored curriculum procedures and practices.  

Well, they did, and here is what they decided, according to the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood:

"Late last week, Scholastic contacted us to let us know that it was reducing its InSchool Marketing division—which produces teaching materials sponsored by corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies—by approximately 40%. And the overwhelming majority of cuts are coming from its corporate-sponsored materials."

In addition:

"Already, Scholastic has agreed to end its partnership with SunnyD to promote sugar-laden beverages in elementary schools, and materials produced for corporations like DreamWorks, Disney, Shell, and Playmobile have been removed from Scholastic’s website for teachers. And Scholastic’s capitulation sends an important message to other companies working to subvert learning through the commercialization of teaching materials."

Thanks to Scholastic for this important first step in working towards commercial free classrooms across America.  Look at the power of organized action!

image:  superwoman on Flickr

Top 20 Most Toxic States from Air Pollution (YOU can make a difference!)

(cross posted at the Moms Clean Air Force)

Is your state on the list?  Or a state nearby?

The NRDC just released its top 20 list of states with the most toxic air pollution, and it isn't pretty.

See, my home state of Pennsylvania is number two.  Number two.  I have many loved ones in that state, both friends and family.  When I think of my hometown I think of rolling hills, farms, football games, and golden leaves.  Not dangerous air pollution, harming vulnerable residents.

According to the NRDC:

"Coal pollution is killing Americans,” said Lynn Ringenberg, MD, of Physicians for Social Responsibility. “It is America’s biggest source of toxic air pollution. Air toxics from coal-fired power plants cause cancer, birth defects, and respiratory illness. Just one of those air toxics, mercury, damages the developing brains of fetuses, infants, and small children. It robs our children of healthy neurological development and native intelligence."


I will continue the fight for clean air, and I hope you will join me.  I won't sit idly by while children across this country are exposed to dangerous toxins in the very air they breath.  There is still time to make a BIG difference in the fight for clean air.  There are only a few days left to send your note of support for the EPA's Mercury and Air Toxics Rule.  

This rule will save as many as 17,000 lives every year by 2015 and prevent up to 120,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms. The safeguards also would avoid more than 12,000 emergency room and hospital visits and prevent 850,000 lost work days every year.

Please send your email message today.

And take a look. Is your state on this list?  If it isn't, do you think air pollution knows state boundaries?  My state of Vermont is not on the list, however, New Hampshire is.  I know that emissions from coal plants pollute the air for miles, and mercury is carried in the atmosphere.  That is why Vermonters can't eat fish from many of our lakes and ponds-- because of industrial pollution in the Midwest and elsewhere. Wake up, New England, this is about us, too!

The states on the "Toxic 20" list (from worst to best) are:

1. Ohio
2. Pennsylvania
3. Florida
4. Kentucky
5. Maryland
6. Indiana
7. Michigan
8. West Virginia
9. Georgia
10. North Carolina
11. South Carolina
12. Alabama
13. Texas
14. Virginia
15. Tennessee
16. Missouri
17. Illinois
18. Wisconsin
19. New Hampshire
20. Iowa

Please pass this along to everyone you know in these states-- and the neighboring ones.  This issue couldn't be more personal.  The very air we breathe is at stake, and its fate is being decided by politicians in Congress, many who receive large donations from the coal industry.  Please join us at the Moms Clean Air Force to fight for clean air for our families.

image: http://www.greenforall.org/blog/epa-moves-forward-in-protecting-our-health-from-power-plant-pollution

Upcycle Your Skirt: Making Bags and Purses with Kids

This is no crafting blog.  Really.

I find both inspiration and frustration in all the amazing crafty mom blogs out there.  For me, the easier the better, and the less materials, exact details and steps, the more likely I might actually do it with my girls.  When I look at beautiful photos of projects I can't imagine being able to pull of, I sigh, and wish I had better genes for that kind of thing.

But when I came across this book in a sale bin at a local bookstore I thought: Maybe even I can do this.

I was inspired by the photos, the simple directions, and the short materials lists.  In fact, while starting my girls on making pillows I found this old skirt.  I had it from an 80s party I hosted, and it is *way* to short to wear in public.

So, I cut it in half (okay, so not exactly):

Then sewed the side and the bottom with a whipstitch (look at my new vocabulary).

I cut up some old corduroy pants into strips for the strap, and sewed it on.  My 4 year old daughter picked some buttons for a design, and drew on some girls for decoration.

Ta-da!  You can take any shorter skirt that you no longer wear, but like the design of, and repurpose it into a bag or skirt for yourself or your kids.  If I can do it, so can you (trust me).  I hope to post more inspired beginning sewing projects with kids-- stay tuned.  And please, let me know if you have any tips or ideas for crafting and sewing with kids in the comments. I'd love to hear from you!