For most parents, a trip to the pharmacy shopping for baby products is a routine experience. And while we make choices on which products to buy for any number of reasons, we would never imagine any one of these products could be unsafe. We have faith that baby products are safe for our kids because our government wouldn't allow toxic chemicals in children's shampoos, pillows or toys.
But, the truth is, we are going on faith alone. When I arrived in the Senate I was shocked to learn that regulators have been prevented from testing all of the 70,000 chemicals found in everyday home products. In fact, due to a variety of obstacles, the Environmental Protection Agency has only tested 200 of them. As a mother and a legislator, I find this unacceptable. We must bring our nation's chemical safety laws into the 21st Century.
Here is a bit of history. Back in 1976, Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a law that was meant to give the EPA the tools to research and regulate chemicals found in everyday products from shampoos, to sippy cups, to shower curtains. Nearly 40 years later only 5 chemicals have been successfully regulated.
I have read too many studies and reports that have found toxic chemicals in everyday products. Since TSCA became law, we have seen an unacceptable rise in cases of childhood cancers, learning disabilities, birth defects, asthma, allergies, autism and infertility. Our children are being exposed to these toxic chemicals before they are even born. Umbilical cord blood samples show exposure to over 200 chemicals ranging from BPA, which is found in plastic bottles, flame retardants, which are used in TV's and furniture, and PCB's, a known-carcinogen that remains in our soil and water.
It is clear that TSCA has failed, and we need to fix it.
Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has led the fight in the Senate by introducing the Safe Chemicals Act. This legislation would modernize our chemical safety laws, and end the 'innocent until proven guilty' approach to toxic chemical regulations by putting the burden for proving safety on manufacturers, where it belongs. I was proud to cosponsor this common sense piece of legislation and will continue to work with Senator Lautenberg to garner support for its passage in Congress.
Congress can't ignore the failure of this law to protect public health any longer. We must stand with the parents across the country who have joined together to demand better from their elected leaders. It's just not good enough for the federal government to sit on the sidelines while states are forced to fill the void and take matters into their own hands.
In my home state of New York, the state legislature passed critically needed reforms like protecting babies from the toxic chemical BPA in baby bottles and cancer-causing chemicals found in nursing pillows and baby carriers. In all, twenty-five states around the country have passed 80 chemical safety laws in the last nine years with overwhelming majorities and strong bipartisan support. I applaud this action at the state level, but we need a national policy that ensures chemicals and products are safe in every state and for every family.
Throughout our history, the United States has led the world in scientific innovation. It is time we continued that tradition by developing safer, more effective chemicals to use in our clothing, buildings and household products. Making safer chemicals will also help keep U.S. companies competitive in the global marketplace where consumers are demanding safer and greener products, while protecting the health and well being of our children and families.
I urge you to join with me, and contact your Senators and Representatives to tell them to support the Safe Chemicals Act so we can keep toxic chemicals out of our homes and away from our children. Our children and grandchildren are counting on us.
Follow Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SenGillibrand
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Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff: BPA-Free? Not Exactly
Cathleen Falsani: The Divine Surprises of Adoption
Mary Brune: What My Daughter Wants (and Deserves) for Her Birthday: a Toxic-Free Future
Hollye
and not the '' natural you get from those main stream firms who might add 1% of almond oil or herb extract to their mineral based chemical product.
http://www.thechristianleftblog.org/1/post/2011/08/the-enemies-within-the-20-most-dangerous-conservatives-and-their-organizations.html
Hemp BIO-ENERGY
Hemp 6X more BTUS than Corn
Hemp uses less water no herbicides and little pesticides and fertilizer.
Subbituminous coal is common in the US. It has an energy content of about 18 million Btu per ton, and is used mostly in coal-fired power plants
Coal generates about half of the electricity used in the United States. ... Each person in the United States uses 3.8 tons of coal each year.
Some 965 million tons of coal were consumed for the generation of electricity. This amounted to 86% of total U.S. coal production
U.S. soybeans 76.6 million acres
U.S. corn 90 million acres
Half of the acres 83.3 million acres
Hemp yields an average of nine dry tons per acre
(more in southern areas)
749 million tons hemp fiber
Bio-diesel Hempoline can be made from leaves and stalks.
You would also have the hemp seeds as a food source too.
U.S. annual anhydrous ammonia 22.90 million tons used.
U.S. ROUND-UP use100 million pounds
Contaminated with 1,4 dioxane
HERO-INSECTIDE SYNGENTA INSECTICIDE Soybeans and corn
RON PAUL = Rosicrucian and Ayn Rand lover.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlE6V8kzf4I
We believe that parents should feel confident that the products they use in their homes are safe for their families, which is why protecting children’s health is a cornerstone of ACC’s 10 Principles for Modernizing TSCA. (Learn more:http://www.americanchemistry.com/Policy/Chemical-Safety/TSCA/10-Principles-for-Modernizing-TSCA.pdf)
ACC is committed to working with Congress to update the nation’s chemical regulations so that they foster innovation and economic growth, while continuing to protect public health and the environment.
While I wish this were so, I go on the assumption that my government is run by big businesses whom are only interested in money. There for, all products (until researched) I consider to be less than trustworthy.
We have in many ways become way too protective of our kids. My parents drove around with me and my brother in a playpen in the back of a van. My grandmother chain smoked cigarettes as she took us places. We roamed our small city on our bicycles at a fairly young age. Do we really think that life is more dangerous today or do we have more people pointing out the dangers? My bet is on the latter. Life wasn't in some sterile environment back then. So why do we seem to suddenly demand that it is now?
UL, or Underwriters Laboratory is the free market solution protecting the US. Testing everything making sure it is safe. HMMM weird they do it better cheaper than government and it is VOLUNTARY.