Toxic-Free Kids Legislation Hits Committees

This week, committees in both the Washington state House and Senate held hearings on the Children’s Safe Products Bill, new legislation to help protect children from toxic chemicals in products they use every day.  The new bill would require manufacturers whose children’s products contain chemicals of concern to research alternatives- a common sense step in making kid’s products safer.  And a huge cross-section of Washingtonians showed up to testify in support of these stronger regulations.

Parents, activists, doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, and disability advocates all took the time to come down to Olympia to tell our lawmakers what the Department of Ecology has already said- that we need this new law to protect children from toxic chemicals.  Health professionals explained how children are uniquely vulnerable children to harmful chemicals, with even minimal exposure having the potential to impact a child’s health for the rest of its life.  They also pointed out that treatment for chronic conditions associated with toxic chemical exposure, like asthma, cancer, and learning disabilities, costs billions of dollars annually.  

Sen. Sharon Nelson, the bill’s primary sponsor in the Senate, says

Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, primary sponsor in the House, sees the bill as providing more certainty for both parents and businesses. 

Of course, some industry lobbyists, mainly from out of state, came to the hearings to claim the new regulations would be too onerous and that their industry is already heavily regulated.  If current regulation is working, why does independent study after study show toxic chemicals in children’s products?  It’s obvious that we need a broader program than single chemical bans, and that is what the Children’s Safe Products Bill will do for the children of Washington state.