Today we are releasing a new video as part of our Take Out Toxics campaign. Check it out:
A centerpiece of our campaign is the need for Congress to pass strong legislation to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
For more than 30 years since TSCA was enacted, industrial chemicals have been barely regulated, with no requirement that chemicals meet a safety standard or that industry prove that a new chemical is safe before it is allowed on the market. Dozens of chemicals known to cause cancer, reproductive harm, or learning and developmental disabilities remain in use, with few if any restrictions. And there are thousands of chemicals for which we simply don’t have enough information to determine whether they are safe or not.
So why has it turned out to be so difficult for Congress to reform this law? The chemical industry says that chemicals in commerce are safe. But the industry has fought for years to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from updating its assessments of well-known carcinogens like formaldehyde and styrene and hidden data that called into question the safety of those same chemicals. While pretending to support the public’s right to know about chemicals, the industry is trying to prevent EPA from even publishing a list of chemicals that the agency is concerned may be unsafe. While pretending to care about protecting the health of America’s families, the chemical industry is spending millions of dollars to fight federal and state-based efforts to remove the endocrine disrupting chemical bisphenol A (found in the blood of 90% of those tested by the Centers for Disease Control) from infant formula and baby bottles. While pretending to be for “sound science,” the chemical industry is mounting a massive campaign to dissuade the EPA from adopting the most up-to-date methods for assessing the risks of toxic chemicals recommended by the National Academy of Sciences.
Enough is enough. It’s time to take toxics out of our cleaning products, our clothes, our furniture, floors, and carpets. It’s time to reform TSCA to protect the public from chemicals, and not the chemical industry from the public. Watch our video. And watch the video from the Safer Chemicals Health Families coalition (NRDC is a founding member).
Send them to your friends.
Then write, call, email, text, meet with, or even communicate telepathically with your representatives in Congress (but if you opt for telepathic communication, use one of the other methods also, just as a backup). Tell them that you want fewer carcinogens in your closet, fewer endocrine disruptors in your cupboard, fewer reproductive toxins in your bedroom (or your kids’ bedroom) and fewer neurotoxins in your office. And you don’t want them in the water your drink or shower in either. Tell your elected representatives that you want Congress to make the chemical industry take their toxics out of your body, and that you want Congress to pass strong TSCA reform. Repeat as necessary until your member of Congress gets it and supports strong reform. You’ll be glad you did.