30 states working together to change a nation

In January, legislators and environmental health advocates in thirty states and Washington, DC announced that they will be introducing bills during their states' 2011 legislative sessions that will protect children and families from harmful toxic chemicals.

The proposed policies run the gamut from comprehensive laws that will promote safer alternatives to toxic chemicals to those that will outlaw specific toxic chemicals including cadmium, bisphenol-A (BPA), and toxic flame retardants. Public support is behind more stringent toxic chemicals laws, and legislators are hearing the message. A study released in November 2010 in conjunction with Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families shows that 18 states have passed 71 chemical safety laws in the last eight years by an overwhelming, bipartisan margin.

Sarah Doll, National Coordinator for Safer States, a network of diverse environmental health coalitions and organizations in states around the country, is looking forward to legislative action in 2011. "This is going to be an exciting year. States are poised to further protect people across the nation from the harms of toxic chemicals."

Bipartisan support in Michigan

Last week, State Senator Roger Kahn, a Republican, announced his intention to introduce legislation in Michigan that will protect residents from toxic chemicals in children's products. The bill to be introduced will require disclosure of harmful chemicals, adoption of a list of the worst-of-the-worst chemicals and promotion of safer alternatives.

"This isn't just a single party issue," said Senator Kahn, discussing the bill at a press conference. Senator Kahn's across-the-aisle support of this bill is becoming the norm, rather than an exception. Last year's Healthy States Report showed that three-quarters of state toxic chemicals bills studied received strong support from a majority of voting Republican legislators. New York's BPA law passed last year with unanimous support in both houses of the legislature.

"We're lucky to have a champion in Senator Kahn."

- Rebecca Meuninck, Michigan Network for Children's Environmental Health.

Four years ago, Kahn co-sponsored a successful bill in Michigan that banned lead in harmful levels from toys. The bill to be proposed in 2011 will go beyond lead to include a greater cadre of toxic chemicals. "Children are our most important asset," said State Senator Jim Marleau, a Republican who joined Senator Kahn to show support for the proposal. "They are so pure and so innocent and yet they can be hurt so easily. And that's why this is so important."

New York: leading the way so the federal government will follow

"Time and time again, the states have shown they are the laboratories for democracy and led the way to reforms that were then acted on by Congress ... When it comes to adopting a preventative approach to toxic chemical use in products, the state legislatures are clearly standing up to the chemical industry and showing Congress the path to protecting public health."

- New York Public Interest Group (NYPIRG) Legislative Counsel Russ Haven

New York's environmental health advocates are keenly aware of their role in helping to protect families nationwide from toxic chemicals. Populous states like New York and California are often the tipping point for laws limiting industry, with the two states representing 18% of the nation's population.

New York has led the way with many restrictions. Suffolk County was the first place in the nation to have a BPA restriction, and the state of New York has laws that restrict products with mercury, lead and toxic flame retardants. The State Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee took up the matter of restricting cadmium in novelty products in its first meeting of 2011.

"You cannot walk into a store and tell which products contain toxics and which are safer, much less be confident that the product you buy is free from harmful chemicals. This is unacceptable ... While Congress has failed to protect us, I am grateful that New York has stepped forward to lead the way. No one should worry that their health is being compromised by toxic chemicals lurking in innocuous household products like their pillows, jewelry, beverage containers or televisions."

- Bobbi Chase Wilding, Organizing Director for Clean New York.

When states like New York pass strong toxic chemical policies, the pressure is put on industry and Congress alike to follow the lead of the state. Advocates recognize that changing the law on the state level often puts pressure on the chemical industry. A great example of this is BPA: In the face of many BPA bans in states, the chemical has been virtually removed from new baby bottles in the US because it's easier for manufacturers to produce one product nationwide rather than comply with BPA regulations in some states.

Chemical lobby opposition at every step

The success of toxic chemical restrictions in the states has not been without serious opposition. The chemical industry is present at nearly every hearing around the nation, and behind closed doors strong-arming legislators into voting against restrictions that will hurt the industry. The trouble with this tactic is that industry is being chosen over the health of our families.

Last year, a BPA ban proposed in the California Legislature failed at the last minute due to industry pressure. While all signs pointed to the bill's passage -- it had passed through both houses and was just back in the Senate for a final, procedural vote -- a last minute push from chemical industry lobbyists misled lawmakers into believing that production plants would close, that a BPA ban would cause a formula shortage, and that alternative products aren't available -- all untrue.

Manufacturers of BPA and the products that use it reportedly spent over $5 million in California's case, and the industry seems poised to oppose any chemical regulation that will be attempted this year.

"We're already seeing heavy opposition from the makers of chemicals and toys in response to the newly introduced toxic toys bills, the Toxic Free Kids Act. In addition to the out-of-state chemical industry, other groups who have testified against the bill include the Toy Industry Association, the Washington State Retailers Association who represents stores like Target, and makers of children's soaps and shampoos such as Johnson & Johnson."

"Washington State has had success in the past with passing toxic chemical legislation, so we have industry's attention, but I'm sure the same strong opposition will be showing up in state capitols all over the country to try and defeat these bills."

- Ivy Sager-Rosenthal, Campaign Director for Washington Toxics Coalition, commenting on industry opposition in Washington State.

States work together to efficiently identify toxic chemicals: IC2

In another state-related development in January 2011, environmental officials from ten state and local governments announced that they formed an umbrella organization -- the Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse (IC2). In an effort to promote a clean environment, healthy communities and a vital economy, IC2 member organizations will work together, sharing data and information on chemical use, hazard, exposure and safer alternatives. Sharing materials and strategies will help the organizations to efficiently and effectively identify and phase out the worst of the worst chemicals.

"For several years many state and local environmental agencies have been working aggressively to reduce toxic chemicals in consumer products as part of a larger effort to reduce toxics in the environment and protect human health. In the absence of an effective national system for securing and sharing data on toxic chemicals, states are working together to share information and make the most of limited resources."

- Ted Sturdevant, Director of the Washington Department of Ecology.

Federal inaction leads to state action

The main law that is governing federal regulation of toxic chemicals is the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This law was passed in 1976, and is hopelessly out of date.

TSCA has never been a very effective governing mechanism for toxic chemicals. Among several issues, it puts the burden of proof on the federal government to prove actual harm before controlling or replacing a dangerous chemical instead of requiring that the chemical manufacturer prove that a new chemical is safe.

And proving harm is an insurmountable task. As a result, there are currently more than 80,000 chemicals on the market that have never been fully assessed for toxic impacts on human health and the environment.

In 1989, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tried to enact a phase-out of asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral fiber that is used for insulation and in goods such as home-building materials and materials needed to build automobiles. The data gathered against asbestos in order to enact the ban took ten years to gather, cost millions of dollars, and resulted in over 100,000 pages of documentation showing that asbestos was harmful and caused often fatal health effects. The chemical industry, however, sued the EPA and in 1991 a federal court overturned the ban. While the court acknowledged that "asbestos is a potential carcinogen at all levels of exposure," they said that the EPA failed to prove that the ban was the "least burdensome alternative" as required by TSCA.

Since this debacle nearly 20 years ago, the EPA has not attempted to use TSCA to ban a chemical.

"Once the rug was pulled out from the EPA, they were rendered incapable of banning chemicals. There are many chemicals that are widely considered to be especially harmful -- these worst of the worst chemicals should be phased out now, but that hasn't happened," says Safer States' Sarah Doll.

States step in to protect where TSCA doesn't

While Congress sorts out TSCA and works on bills that will overhaul this outdated law (bills were proposed and failed last year, and will be re-proposed this year), the states continue to do hard work to get toxic chemicals out of the lives of their residents. Starting with laws restricting mercury -- the naturally occurring element that is often emitted from coal-burning power plants and affects the human nervous system -- the states have a many-year record of being the first to move against chemicals that threaten our health.

This year, advocates are trying to ban BPA in more broad strokes ways than have been tackled before in order to protect our families. BPA exposure is associated with fetal development issues, miscarriage and Down's syndrome, cancer, diabetes and obesity, behavioral impacts in young children, and reproductive issues. The chemical is ubiquitous in our lives and is found in products from toilet paper to register receipts to cans to dental sealants. Advocates recognize that baby bottles are a good start for BPA removal, but BPA needs to get out of our lives in much more widespread ways.

At least eighteen states will be introducing or have introduced policies to restrict the use of BPA in infant formula cans, receipt paper, baby bottles and/or sippy cups including: Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

In addition to coordinating Safer States, Sarah Doll is a parent of a young child. "As a mom, I am relieved to see action on toxic chemicals by the states. If these policies pass, my child will grow up in a healthier environment, and as a parent I can make informed purchasing decisions because I will have knowledge of what ingredients are in my household products."

In addition to the aforementioned BPA restrictions, other policies to be considered in the 2011 state legislatures include:

Comprehensive State Laws: Nine states, including Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Washington and Vermont, will be introducing or have introduced policies to change the way we regulate chemicals at the state level.

State TSCA Resolutions: At least eleven states will be calling on the 112th U.S. Congress to bring our federal chemicals policy into the 21st century: Alaska, California, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.

Banning Cadmium in Children’s Products: At least eight states will be introducing or have introduced policies to ban the use of cadmium in children’s products, including: Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey and New York.

Deca BDE (toxic flame retardant) Phase Outs: At least three states will be introducing or have introduced policies to reduce exposure to deca BDE, including: Alaska, Massachusetts, New York and the District of Columbia.

State by state, the laws that will be proposed across the country this year will move toward creating a healthier, safer country for all of us. When U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) spoke in front of the US Senate in November, 2010, she spoke for advocates across the country, saying "I have a deep abiding concern regarding the presence of toxins and chemicals with no testing in all kinds of products and all kinds of solutions that build up in our bodies. There is no precautionary standard in this country when it comes to chemicals."