Kid Safe Chemical Act: A Real Solution

Awhile back we bemoaned our nation's ancient and seriously inadequate toxics law and dreamed of overhauling the clunker.  More recently I ranted about bisphenol-A.  Well, mamas, rather than tossing  more dangerous products and calling for the good folks in DC to think about change, three U.S. Representatives recently introduced a delightfully progressive, comprehensive bill could really and truly help.  And all we have to do is help pass the thing. 

Nothing to it!  'Cause all you need to do for now is know about this excellent bill.  Read about this excellent bill.  Talk about this excellent bill.  And, when it moves, when a vote is on the horizon, let's be at the ready to pick up the phone, send that e-mail, make that in-person meeting to tell the Oregon delegation - loud and clear - how very much this matters to you.  To us.  To all parents everywhere. 

Read all about it.  Environmental Working Group is hard at work on this one, mamas.  Check out its 1-page fact sheet so you know how this bill differs from the ineffective 1976 law we're working from now.  And if you've no time to sit & read (imagine!), you can listen to EWG's Mixed Greens episode on Kid Safe from 6.17.08.  Here's how they describe the situation:

We are at a tipping point, where the pollution in people is increasingly associated with a range of serious diseases and conditions from childhood cancer, to autism, ADHD, learning deficits, infertility, and birth defects. Yet even as our knowledge about the link between chemical exposure and human disease grows, the government has almost no authority to protect people from even the most hazardous chemicals on the market.

So what does the bill actually do?  Happily, a lot!  Get the 1-minute bulleted list here.  And, if you're wondering who else on the block supports this bill, you'll find yourself in good company.

There's an end to the madness in this bill, mamas, I know it.  When the time comes, let's be ready to shout from the mountaintops (or at least from our cell phones) that we families WANT this, our children NEED this, and that we WON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER. 

Yee-ha, mamas, yee-ha.  We can get this one.  We have to get this one. 

Comments

[Molomatic]

It's about time!!! Great news!

[Eric Miller]

Thanks for this info, Lisa. I'm passing this along to everyone I know. This looks comprehensive and has the public interest at it's heart. I'm guessing it will face stiff opposition by powerful industry lobbyists...

let's see, who has more passion about our kids' health, industry lobbyists or all of us maternals and paternals who are becoming political?