What You Can Do
As a green-minded parent, you’re probably already doing a lot to protect your child from toxic chemicals the diseases often associated with them: Finding non-toxic child care, buying BPA-free baby bottles, helping to reduce your child’s exposure to automotive pollution, avoiding synthetic food dyes, green cleaning your carpets, playing away from arsenic-treated playground equipment, choosing eco-friendly toys are more.
But the bigger issue here is that someone else needs to be protecting your child. The country’s chemical safety laws are currently outdated. Today, the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee will hold hearings on the “Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010,” the overdue potential overhaul of the “1976 Toxic Substances Control Act.” The proposed updates will help protect kids from many different toxins including BPA, lead, cadmium and flame retardants. To understand the important differences, you can see a breakdown of the difference from the 1976 bill to the proposed 2010 update on the Environmental Defense Fund’s blog.
It’s no coincidence that the Michigan Network for Children’s Environmental Health released this report on the cost of kids’ toxic chemical exposure in Michigan this week. They wanted to bring more attention to the importance of the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010 now for both parents and congressmen alike.
The bill has a long battle of many committee hearings before it will become law. You can help the “Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010″ get through its legislative journey by writing to Congress. Both the NRDC’s Action Center and the Safer Chemicals Healthy Coalition make taking action easy. Also, you may want to check locally to help the state you live in pass state-specific legislation. In Michigan, ask your senator to pass the Michigan Children’s Safe Products Act for example.
+ The Price of Pollution: Cost Estimates of Environment-Related Childhood Disease in Michigan
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