Toxic chemicals are threatening Puget Sound

You know that toxic chemicals in consumer products pollute our homes and landfills. But did you know that some of the same chemicals in our couches, raincoats, and plastics are harming Puget Sound wildlife like orcas¹and seals²? Scientists are ringing alarm bells and many consumers are becoming more discerning shoppers.  Yet, it's not enough to turn the tide of toxic pollution.  

Click here to sign the petition asking Washington's members of Congress to protect wildlife and the health of our waterways from persistent, toxic chemicals.  

The chemical industry continues to lobby against common-sense solutions. Despite what they say, the facts tell us that many of our natural ecosystems are at the breaking point.  We can't continue to use chemicals like lead and toxic flame retardants -some of the worst, persistent, toxic chemicals in the world- as ingredients in consumer products!

We only have two weeks to collect 5000 signatures (so far we have 537) before the official House introduction of a federal bill called the Safe Chemicals Act. The bill, while a promising opportunity to update our nation's out-of-date and terribly flawed chemical law, lacks key protections that consumers and environmental advocates were counting on.  

Toxic pollution will not get better on its own. Puget Sound and waterways around Washington are full of hormone disrupting chemicals, carcinogens, and other persistent toxic chemicals. Persistent toxic chemicals are one of the biggest hazards facing Puget Sound today and include familiar chemicals like mercury and DDT and others like perfluorinated compounds that don't roll off the tongue as easily.  

What these chemicals have in common is that they persist or last a long time in the environment before they breakdown. As a result, they increase in concentration as they move up the food web, putting the brunt of the toxic burden on animals at the top like orcas, polar bears and people³. Along the way, they promote cancer, disrupt hormones, and damage nervous systems.  

Here is the link to the petition: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5121/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=3042

We need policymakers to stop the use of persistent toxics chemicals in consumer products.  

[2] Puget Sound Partnership. Puget Sound Action Agenda, 2008