Maine Women's Lobby
Please enter a search term to begin your search.
Chemical Reform in Maine
Safe Chemicals Act of 2010:
Introduced in April, the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010 would amend the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA). The current TSCA law is widely understood to be ineffective. When TSCA passed, it ‘grandfathered' in 62,000 chemicals in use without restriction or testing. In more than 30 years since then, the U.S. EPA has only required testing for 200 chemicals and only restricted some uses of 5 chemicals under TSCA. A growing body of science has documented widespread human exposure to toxic chemicals in everyday products, and has linked chemical exposure to threats of reduced fertility, learning disabilities, breast and prostate cancer, among other diseases.
It is time we fix our broken chemical safety system!
Toxic Toys EPA Hearing
Please join us and our partners at the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine as we show our support for phasing out toxic chemicals from children's products!
When: December 17th, 9am- 3pm
Where: Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, Maine
What: The Board will hear public comments about rule-making which could make or break implementation the Kid-Safe Product Act
Last year Maine lead the nation in passing the landmark Kid-Safe Product Act - and now we need to ensure that it is not defeated by bad rule-making, poor implementation, or death by delay.
IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON COMING, PLEASE EMAIL: Asheldon@mainewomen.org
Toxic Toys?
Those two words shouldn't be in the same sentence. But unfortunately they still are.
This holiday season, make sure Maine kids have safe toys free of toxic chemicals.
Join the Maine Women's Lobby, along with our partners in the
Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, the Maine Fair Trade Campaign,
and the Women of Steel to help fix our broken chemical safety system.
No child should be exposed to toxic toys.
We'll be testing toys
on site for lead, chromium, chlorine and other dangerous substances
using a hand-held x-ray fluorescence device.
Help take the TOXINS out of TOYS!
** Check out our photos from the December 8th, Toxic Toys Event in Winslow Maine! **
Get BPA Out of Our Bodies
A growing body of evidence suggests that chemicals in everyday consumer products are harming our health and fertility. One of the "worst-of-the-worst" toxic chemicals, Bisphenol A (BPA), is found in reusable water bottles, baby bottles, pacifiers, plastic utensils, children's toys, compact discs, and certain microwaveable and reusable plastic containers.
Nearly 200 scientific studies show that exposures to low doses of BPA are associated with a wide range of adverse health effects in later life, including increased risk of breast cancer, early puberty in girls, infertility in men, neurobehavioral problems, and autism. Despite this evidence, BPA is still in widespread use.
It's time for Maine to take action!
Recently, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention released a list of about 1,700 "chemicals of high concern"- substances that pose a significant risk to human health that also are used in manufacturing common consumer goods.
States like Maine are acting because the federal
law that should protect us from dangerous chemicals in consumer
products is badly broken. A new bill to fix the system will be
introduced soon in Congress.
Maine has been a leader in
creating stronger chemicals policy. Please take a moment right now to
sign a petition to Senator Olympia Snowe and Senator Susan Collins asking them to help fix our broken
chemical safety system at the federal level by co-sponsoring the
Kid-Safe Chemicals Act.
Learn More About Chemical Reform in Maine
Wanna see more pictures? Check out the photostream on our blog.
Check out the article from the Times Record.
Background: Chemical Reform in Maine
The State of Maine officially named 1,739 chemical substances as "Chemicals of High Concern" in the first government action required under a landmark law passed in 2008 to protect children's health from unnecessary toxic chemicals found in everyday products such as infant formula, plastic shower curtains, cosmetics, furniture, and home electronics.
The dangerous chemicals on the list are known to disrupt hormones, cause learning disabilities, cancer, or reproductive harm, or remain toxic for a long time in the environment and build up in the bodies of humans and wildlife, according to the best science available to top government agencies in the United States, Canada and Europe.
Included on the list are such chemicals as:
- Bisphenol A , the hormone disruptor being removed by many manufacturers from baby bottles and reusable water bottles, but still widely used in infant formula containers and food and beverage can linings, despite growing evidence linking early life exposure to harm to the developing brain, prostate and breasts;
- Several phthalates (pronounced 'thal-ates'), which suppress testosterone and harm developing male sex organs, that are commonly used to soften vinyl plastics and toys and are added to nail polish and other beauty products;
- PFOS and other perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), used to make grease-resistant fast-food wrappers and snack bags and stain-resistant fabrics for furniture and cars, which are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic;
- DecaBDE and other brominated flame retardants (BFRs), linked to thyroid damage leading to learning and behavior problems, which are commonly added to plastics, electronic circuit boards, and rigid foam insulation; and
- Methylene chloride, a common paint stripper, and perchloroethylene, the common dry cleaning chemical, which are both known to cause cancer.
In 2008 Maine became the first state in the nation to adopt a comprehensive safer chemicals policy, also known as the Kid Safe Products Act. Today's listing of "Chemicals of High Concern" is the first step required under the law. By 2010, Maine will designate a shorter subset of these as "Priority Chemicals." Then the burden will shift to manufacturers who will be required to publicly disclose for the first time which priority chemicals of high concern they add to consumer products sold in the State. Finally, the Kid Safer Products Act authorizes Maine to require product manufacturers to replace priority chemicals with safer alternatives to reduce toxic chemical exposure to children and other vulnerable groups.
Other states are following Maine's lead. Comprehensive safer chemical laws have since been adopted in California and Washington state (2008) and Minnesota (2009). Similar chemical safety laws are pending in Massachusetts and Michigan. In 2007, the European Union enacted comprehensive chemical policy reform known as REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals). Last year, Canada completed a review of 23,000 chemicals and identified priority chemicals for action.
Prompted by these legislative actions at the state level and in Europe, Congress has signaled that they will soon take up safer chemical reform through the first ever overhaul of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. TSCA is widely recognized as ineffective. In 33 years, the U.S. EPA has only required testing of 200 chemicals and had restricted uses of just 5 chemicals of the more than 60,000 chemicals believed to be in commercial use.
