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You're Invited to the Toxies!
Are you ready to walk the red carpet? How about the excitement of the awards ceremony? Or maybe just the afterparty...
You're invited to join us at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood on June 16th to make some noise for bad actor chemicals at the 2nd Annual Toxies!
Don't worry, if you're not in LA, you can always bring the party to you by signing up to host a satellite viewing party!
The new toxies website is here: www.toxies.com, where this year's nominees will be announced.
RSVP for the 2011 Toxies right now!
june 16, 2011 | 4pm PDT: red carpet | 5pm: awards ceremony | 6pm-8pm: afterparty
Stop the Governor's Green Chemistry Betrayal!
It's a mockery of the public participation process and betrays the real purpose of the Green Chemistry Initiative.
Take a stand with us today against the revised Green Chemistry safer product regulation that has been gutted in a last-minute attempt to sneak through industry-backed rules that overlook hazards to health and the environment. The revised regulation is a betrayal of the Green Chemistry promise and ignores two years of public input while caving to backroom industry lobbying.
Click here to learn more and to use our easy action tool to send a message to DTSC and let them know that you want to stop this Green Chemistry betrayal. The Governor will try and claim a "green" legacy, but this regulation will leave behind a toxic one.
Read more...Phthalates Make Plastic Soft...and Dangerous
In the eighth story of our ongoing series, "Independence from Toxic Chemicals," Pam Palitz describes the danger of phthalates in our everyday products
When I first started working in the environmental health field, I had a mantra: “BPA makes plastic hard, phthalates make plastic soft.” Baby bottles … hard. Rubber duckies … soft. It’s so important for an environmental health advocate to keep her endocrine disruptors straight.
Easy as Cupcake: Get Cadmium out of Kids' Jewelry
In the seventh story of our ongoing series, "Independence from Toxic Chemicals," Ryan Berghoff reports on why California should get the Cadmium out of children's jewelry.
Senator Fran Pavley’s bill, SB 929, which sets strict limits on the use of cadmium in children’s jewelry, recently passed the California Senate with a large majority vote (26-10) and is now on its way to the governor for his signature. At the present time, federal law restricts cadmium, a known carcinogen, only in painted toys. There are currently no restrictions on the use of cadmium in children’s jewelry, and recent reports show that some jewelry has high concentrations of cadmium.
Read more...California: The Leader in Lead Regulation
In the sixth story of our ongoing series, "Independence from Toxic Chemicals," Ryan Berghoff and Christina Medina describe the history of lead regulation in California
Lead is one of the most infamous and ubiquitous toxic heavy metals--it was even honored with the prestigious “Toxie” award for Lifetime Achievement in Harm. It has been linked to infertility in women, increased risk of heart attacks and stroke, as well as neurological and developmental problems in children. Take a look at our post on California’s Prop 65 to see some of the unexpected places we’ve found lead. Who’d ever think that diaper rash cream, lunch boxes and electronic cords could have so much in common!
Read more...BPA in California’s Babies – What’s the Hold Up?
In the fifth story of our ongoing series, "Independence from Toxic Chemicals," Ana Mascareñas gives an overview of California's BPA legislation.
This week, the California legislature plans to wrap up its legislative session and make many decisions about the services, priorities, and the budget of our state. Amongst the very tough decisions, sending a bill to protect infants and toddlers from exposure to a toxic chemical -- a measure already passed by both the houses but pending one procedural vote in the Senate -- should NOT be considered a tough decision. SB 797(Pavley) would prohibit the synthetic estrogen, bisphenol-A (BPA) in baby bottles, sippy cups, food and formula containers meant for children 3 and younger.
Read more...AB 289: Chemical Testing Requirements
In the fourth story of our ongoing series, "Independence from Toxic Chemicals," Ryan Berghoff describes California's AB 289 from 2006.
Every year more than 55,000,000 pounds of all chemicals are released in the state of California. There are over 85,000 chemicals that are commercially available today, and many are known to cause cancer, damage the brain, or disrupt the nervous and reproductive systems. Analytical test methods only exist for approximately 30 percent of all chemicals, and thus there is a large body of chemicals that remains completely untested. In order to test these numerous chemicals, laboratories within the California Environmental Protection Agency must use millions of taxpayer dollars to develop detection methods for finding chemicals in the air, water, soil, and human body, placing a significant financial burden on Cal- EPA. That’s where AB 289 comes in.
Read more...You Asked, Congress Listened
We’ve just moved one step closer to retiring Bad Actor Chemicals in this country. Yesterday, Congressmen Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) formally introduced the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010 (H.R. 5820). Back in June we asked you to contact your representative to urge them to make the Toxics Substances Control Act reform bills stronger in five ways. Guess what? You asked and they listened (mostly). Look at how the new bill took some of your thoughts and incorporated them (or not):
Story of the Safe Cosmetics Act
In the third story of our ongoing series, "Independence from Toxic Chemicals," Ryan Berghoff describes California's Safe Cosmetics Act, the first law in the country to address toxic chemicals in cosmetics.
Every day millions of people cover their bodies in a variety of cosmetics and personal care products hoping to look more attractive, but there is a price to pay for beauty (and I’m not talking about how expensive cosmetic products are). Independent testing in the United States and the European Union has determined that some cosmetic products contain substances known or suspected to cause cancer and reproductive toxicity that can harm the mother, fetus, and nursing children. Dangerous chemicals have a knack for showing up in our every day products, from toys that our children play with to the cosmetics in our bathroom cabinets, and that is why California has taken the lead in passing legislation to protect its residents.
Read more...The Power of Proposition 65: What you don't see
As part of our ongoing series, "Independence from Toxic Chemicals," Pamela King Palitz describes California's groundbreaking Proposition 65.
People love to poke fun at Proposition 65, the 1986 right-to-know law that requires manufacturers, retailers and other businesses to provide notice to Californians when they are being exposed to toxic chemicals. Everyone has seen the warning signs at the airport, or on a gas pump, or in a parking structure and thought, “Thanks for the warning, buddy. Really, though … do I have any choice about being here?”
Read more...