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):

CNN's Dr. Gupta Talks Chemicals Policy

If you've been following CHANGE's blog posts, you probably know that there are 80,000 on the market and only 200 of them have been tested for safety. But that oft-quoted statistic in the chemicals policy world doesn't usually make it to broadcast television. Until now.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta gives a compelling report on how a 1976 toxic chemical law (the Toxics Substances Control Act, or TSCA) may be putting Americans at risk.

Click on "Read more" below to see the video entitled "Chemicals: Innocent or Guilty?"

Listen Live to the US Senate Hearing on Toxic Chemicals on February 4

February 4, the Senate Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health is holding a hearing to examine the current science on public exposure to toxic chemicals. The federal law governing toxic chemical production and use, the Toxic Substances Control Act, is due to be updated with new legislation by Subcommittee Chair, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) in early 2010.

What will they say? Are the Feds going to represent California's interest in protecting health and the environment from toxic chemicals?

Find out by listening live to the Senate Hearing Feb 4, 10:00 am (EST) (7:00 am PST) thanks to Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, Pacifica Radio Network and Free Speech Radio News.

Then come back to this space and tell us what you thought.

Resources and Fact Sheets

• Click the following link to download PDF on CHANGE's letter to the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC): Download CHANGE Letter to DTSC

• Click the following link to download PDF on CHANGE's Green Chemistry Fact Sheet: Download CHANGE Green Chemistry Fact Sheet FINAL

• Click the following link to download PDF on Green Chemistry Initiative Framework: Download CHANGE_GCI_framework FINAL

• Click the following link to download PDF on concerns for Maziar and DTSC: Download Concerns for Maziar 8-18-09

• Click the following link for CHANGE members' May 2009 concerns for Maziar and DTSC: Download GC_CHANGE_Members_Input

California state Assembly fails to pass BPA ban

By Sarah E. Brown

SACRAMENTO - Sept. 11, 2009. The California state Assembly failed to pass SB 797, a bill which would have banned the toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) from use in children's sippy cups, infant formula and other food and drink products designed for children aged three and younger.

More than 200 scientific studies have linked BPA, a synthetic estrogen used in many hard plastics, to reproductive disorders, prostate and breast cancer, autism, birth defects, infertility in men, early puberty in girls and other serious health risks.

AMA advocates for improved U.S. chemical policy

By Sarah E. Brown

During their June 2008 Annual Meeting, the American Medical Association House of Delegates resolved to advocate for improved chemical policy and environmental health practices in the United States.

The AMA, founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of physicians and medical students in the United States.

The AMA publishes the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which has the largest circulation of any weekly medical journal in the world.

Plastics Industry Uses Social Media to Mislead Public

By Sarah E. Brown

Lies, propaganda, and hypocrisy—this is what we have come to expect from Bill Carteaux, President of the Society of the Plastics Industry, which represents manufacturers of thousands of products made with BPA with sales topping $6 billion per year.

Carteaux is leading industry efforts to stamp out public outcry for a ban of bisphenol A, a key ingredient in some hard, clear plastic products. Carteaux seems to have made it his mission to divert public attention from the numerous studies that have linked BPA to breast cancer, testicular cancer, reproductive deformities and neurological defects.