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Showing posts with label Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Reset the Clock on Cancer: Tell the Senate to Fix Our Chemical Laws

Today's post was shared by Ban Asbestos Network and comes from www.huffingtonpost.com


What would you do to prevent someone you love from getting breast cancer? To keep your sister, mother, daughter or son safe from this devastating disease that has touched millions of people? The greatest opportunity to prevent breast cancer is identifying and eliminating the environmental causes of the disease, including exposures to toxic chemicals.

Hope that we can change the course of cancer for future generations is the most compelling reason why all of us should tell our senators to fix our broken chemical system that prohibits? women -- and all of us -- from living healthy lives.

Toxic chemicals, found in everything from cleaners to furniture to plastics, endlessly bombard our bodies and take a toll on our health. A strong and rapidly growing consensus from the scientific community has determined that chemicals in everyday products are linked to diseases and disorders that persist or are on the rise in the population, including breast cancer, infertility, asthma and more.

This week Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is convening a full-day hearing with experts in public health about how to fix our broken chemicals system. The failure of the law governing chemicals, the Toxic Substances Control Act, (TSCA) stems from a number of factors, including the very basic flaw that chemicals don't have to be proven safe first before they are brought to market. Any meaningful reform of TSCA must shift the burden of proof to industry to demonstrate the safety of the chemicals they...
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Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The Chemical Safety Improvement Act Falls Short: Open Letter to Congress

Today's post was shared by Linda Reinstein and comes from www.huffingtonpost.com

2013-11-13-karunajaggar.jpg
2013-11-13-karunajaggar.jpg
To: Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy
I am writing to express serious concerns about the Chemical Safety Improvement Act, in advance of tomorrow's hearing, S. 1009 Chemical Safety Improvement Act.
Breast Cancer Action is a national, feminist grassroots education and advocacy organization that works to address and end the breast cancer epidemic. Breast Cancer Action is committed to reducing involuntary exposures to toxins that are linked to increased risk for breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Action recognizes that the current congressional interest in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) represents an important opportunity to pass landmark cancer prevention legislation. After years of work, along with our partners, for strong regulation of toxic chemicals we are heartened to see widespread agreement that TSCA is a top priority for the current Congress.
However, we recognize that some proposed changes to current law do not adequately protect public health. We believe that the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA) as it is currently written falls short of the reforms that are needed to stop breast cancer before it starts. This bill in its current form not only lacks key requirements to protect people and our planet from toxic chemicals, but if implemented, could actually weaken the few strong toxic chemical regulations that currently exist.
In short, Breast Cancer...
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Monday, November 11, 2013

Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy will hold a hearing on S. 1009

On Wednesday, November 13, the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy will hold a hearing on “S. 1009 – The Chemical Safety Improvement Act.” 

The subcommittee has held three hearings in the 113th Congress examining the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) including practical effects of its regulatory implementation. 

Next week, members will begin examining efforts to reform the statute with a review of S. 1009, the Chemical Safety Improvement Act, bipartisan legislation authored by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) and the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). 

As part of the ongoing effort to improve chemical safety regulation, the subcommittee will take a thoughtful look at the proposed Senate bill and how it addresses reform of the program. 

The Majority Memorandum and witness list is available here. Witness testimony will also be posted at the same link when available.


Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Stand Up For Safer Chemicals

Today's post was shared by Linda Reinstein and comes from www.thepetitionsite.com

America's chemicals policy is badly broken. Hundreds of toxic chemicals in our sofas, laundry detergents and other household products have been linked to cancer, infertility, autism, and asthma. Thousands more chemicals have never been assessed or required to be tested for safety.
But we have the opportunity to protect ourselves. The bipartisan Chemical Safety Improvement Act offers a path toward critically needed reforms.
Take Action: Ask your Members of Congress to support improving and moving the Chemical Safety Improvement Act.
Dear Congress,
I am writing today to urge you to help improve and move the Chemical Safety Improvement Act.
Because of deficiencies in the 37-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act, the vast majority of the tens of thousands chemicals in use in the United States today have never been tested for their toxicity to humans or the environment. I am deeply concerned about potential impacts of chemicals on my health and the health of my family, but under the current system, adequate chemical safety information is not available to regulatory agencies or consumers. We need reform now.
The bipartisan Chemical Safety Improvement Act is a remarkable opportunity to fix our broken law. The bill would give the Environmental Protection Agency critical tools it needs to address the risks chemicals pose to health. For instance, the bill would require, for the first time, that the safety of all chemicals in active commerce be...
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Monday, October 14, 2013

Asbestos victims speak out

Today's post was shared by Linda Reinstein and comes from blog.saferchemicals.org

By Linda Reinstein, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization

"Out of the hottest fire comes the strongest steel." Chinese Proverb

ADAO
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), the largest independent asbestos victims’ organization in the U.S., is pleased to join other NGOs in the SaferChemicals, Healthy Family coalition’s mission to reform the Toxic SubstancesControl Act (TSCA), the principal federal law governing the use and safety of the thousands of chemicals we are exposed to in our everyday lives.

TSCA was passed more than 30years ago and is grossly out of date. ADAO has been a stakeholder in discussions with Congressional leadership since 2004. You can read my personal journey, and how I came to advocate for this issue here.

As I Remind Congress,“History is a great teacher to those who listen.” 

Science And technology have made exponential advancements. As a mother and mesothelioma widow, I know the Safer Chemicals, Healthy FamilyFamily Coalition’s efforts will improve lives if Congress can draft and pass legislation to protect public health and our environment. I see hope on the horizon, but we have stalled. Bipartisan support is essential in getting a bill to the President’s desk, but we face a hurdle with the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA).

ADAO opposes the current language of CSIA, due to deep concerns that the bill as currently written does not deliver meaningful reform to TSCA and does not adequately protect Americans from the worst...
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Friday, October 11, 2013

Think asbestos is banned in the US?

Today's post was shared by Linda Reinstein and comes from blog.saferchemicals.org


Asbestos warning
Asbestos warning

If there’s one reason we know our federal law governing chemicals doesn’t work, it’s asbestos. Despite popular belief, asbestos, one of the most harmful substances known, still isn’t banned in the United States.

This week marks the 37th birthday of our primary federal law governing toxic chemicals, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). While most birthdays are a joyous occasion, we’re taking this opportunity to educate the public on just how flawed our federal chemical law is.

Take for example asbestos. It’s one of the few substances that has a disease directly named after it (mesothelioma) and is widely regarded as a silent killer for many families.
Top five asbestos facts:
  1. Asbestos is a known human carcinogen and there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. Learn more here.
  2. Asbestos is legal in the U.S., and is still imported.
  3. Thirty Americans die everyday from asbestos-related diseases.
  4. Only 55 countries have banned asbestos. The United States and Canada are the only two industrial western nations not to have banned asbestos.
  5. More than 10,000 people die in the U.S. each year from asbestos-related diseases
(Adapted with permission from our partners at the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization) When TSCA was passed into law 37 years ago, it’s intent was to regulate toxic substances, but the bill was so...
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