Few pieces of legislation are as important to parents as those designed to protect our children, and this week saw a major victory for anyone concerned with children's health and consumer safety. Congress recently passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 by a vote of 424-1 in the House and 89-3 in the Senate. If you're wondering who the four who voted against the bill are, they're Coburn (R-OK), DeMint (R-SC), Kyl (R-AZ) and Ron Paul in the House. I'm not sure why these four Republicans want your babies chewing on toxic chemicals, and I'm not sure I want to. Suffice it to say, most legislators on both sides of the aisle have a bit more common sense. And even though President Bush has said he disagrees with the ban, he signed it into law this week. Looks like he's doing some eleventh hour legacy work, which is fine by me. It's signed, for whatever reason.
As noted by PRNewswire via MarketWatch:
President Bush signed a federal bill today that bans six toxic phthalates from children's products. His signature bolsters Congress' overwhelming support for this legislation, and sends a clear message that toxic chemicals have no place in toys.
The phthalate ban, a provision of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act, will protect children from these harmful plastic-softening chemicals which are linked to breast cancer, decreased sperm counts, birth defects and other health problems. Advocates see this legislation as a first step toward broader chemical policy reform. "Congress got a glimpse into how chemicals are regulated in this country and saw how broken the system is," said Janet Nudelman, director of program and policy for the Breast Cancer Fund. "The phthalate ban is only the tip of the iceberg of what's needed to protect Americans from unsafe chemical exposures."
Senator Kerry grilled FDA Associate Commissioner Norris Alderson in May on the issue of chemicals in household products and in particular the lack of independent testing on products we use every day.
Please don't ever make me testify before him when he's angry.
The Senator was much nicer to us when he and Teresa spoke on the topic in Pittsburgh last year. Of course, the people at the book signing weren't shirking our responsibility to the American people. I think that had a lot to do with it.
Both the Senator and Teresa have long been environmental champions, and have spoken on the issue of toxins in consumer products. I didn't know what a phthalate was until I heard it from Teresa at a conference a couple years ago and learned more from reading chapter two of This Moment on Earth, titled "A Body of Evidence". Written by Teresa, it deals extensively with toxins, and the Senator notes that it's his favorite chapter in the book (I'm partial to chapter six on drilling). Teresa has extensive knowledge of the subject from her association with experts like Dr. Devra Davis, Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Dr. Julia Brody, executive director of Silent Spring Institute and through her sponsorship of an annual Women's Health and the Environment conference that brings together experts to inform the public of environmental health issues.
The phthalate ban is a good first step toward protecting consumers from household and environmental toxins. It's a far cry from where we need to be, but it's progress, and that's a good thing.
Democrats in the Senate have also introduced the "BPA-Free Kids Act", which has been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Senator Kerry is an original co-sponsor of the Schumer legislation.
Kerry, Senate Democrats Introduce Bill Banning BPA in All Children's Products
Senator John Kerry (D-MA) joined U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), along with Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Robert Menendez (D-NJ), to announce that they have introduced legislation banning a potentially hazardous chemical, known as bisphenol-A (BPA), in all children’s products. The legislation will also mandate that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conduct a comprehensive study of the health effects of BPA in children and adults. Earlier this month a U.S. government study revealed that bisphenol-A, a chemical used to make plastics clear and shatter-resistant, could pose major health risks. Canada has identified the chemical, which is present in water bottles and infant formula bottles, as one that could affect reproduction and neural development during early life exposure. Major U.S. retailers such as Wal-Mart and Toys'R'Us are already pulling baby bottles containing bisphenol-A from their shelves, and the popular bottle-maker Nalgene said it will discontinue production of its line of bottles that rely on the substance and recall BPA-affected products already in stores.
“As the evidence mounts about BPA’s health risks, the first thing we should do is take this chemical out of children’s products,” Senator Kerry said. “Parents should be able to give their kids a drink without wondering whether the baby bottle or sippee cup will make their child sick.”
