You acted, Congress answered.
You've been hearing us talk about Safe Chemicals legislation pending in Congress -- the Safe Chemicals Act in the Senate and the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act in the House -- two bills which will overhaul the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the decades-old federal law that oversees chemical regulation. It is hopelessly out of date, and we are working hard to reform it. These bill proposals are our chance to pass meaningful toxics reform in the US that will protect our families from toxic chemicals that are currently found throughout our homes.
This post originally published on Safer States.
You've been hearing us talk about Safe Chemicals legislation pending in Congress -- the Safe Chemicals Act in the Senate and the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act in the House -- two bills which will overhaul the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the decades-old federal law that oversees chemical regulation. It is hopelessly out of date, and we are working hard to reform it. These bill proposals are our chance to pass meaningful toxics reform in the US that will protect our families from toxic chemicals that are currently found throughout our homes.
In the past six months, we've been asking for persistent, bioaccumalative toxics (PBTs) to be given special attention in the proposed bills.
PBTs are just a fancy way of identifying chemicals that build up in our systems, and cause problems with our health and with the environment. These are the worst of the worst chemicals like lead, mercury, the compound used to make Teflon and some flame retardants.
PBTs are uniquely dangerous because they pose a triple threat. They persist in the environment for long periods of time and can be transported long distances; they accumulate in living organisms and increase in concentration as they move up the food chain; and, they are highly toxic, often at very low levels of exposure.
When the bill proposal was first floated a few months ago, it looked like PBTs were not going to be given special consideration, despite our best efforts. We asked for your support, and many of you called Congress to ask that PBTs be included in the Safe Chemicals Act.
The House bill, (HR 5820) was introduced last Thursday by Representatives Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) and included important provisions for PBTs.
The public was heard. We thank you for all your support in helping to push through this important provision, and give a standing ovation to Representatives Rush and Waxman for their hard work. Of course, we won't rest until a strong federal bill is passed, and we are protected. It will be a tough fight against the powerful chemical industry who wants to keep the status quo and have ultimate control over secret formulas and hidden ingredients that are harmful to our health.
Here's what the states had to say about the introduction of the Toxic Chemical Safety Act:
- Ivy Sager-Rosenthal, Campaign Director, Washington Toxics Coalition
- Kathleen Schuler, Co-Director, Healthy Legacy
- Mark Mitchell, M.D., MPH, Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice, President and founding member of the Coalition for a Safe and Healthy Connecticut, who will be testifying on the bill before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection this Thursday.
- Andy Igrejas, Director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a coalition of 250 environmental and public health groups.
- Sara Tamez, Campaign Coordinator, Illinois PIRG, in the Chicago Tribune.
