Incredible! 73,635 of you signed petitions asking President Obama to make it a priority for his Administration to stop the use of cancer-causing chemicals in products used in America every day. Today, we brought your signatures to the White House, tied up in a pretty bow, to make it clear that people want to stop cancer.
In our White House meeting, we delivered your signatures and this message:
By setting the course for a national cancer prevention strategy that includes eliminating the use of cancer-causing chemicals, the President can reverse decades of failed policies that have allowed those chemicals to contaminate our lives and endanger our health.
Americans are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals on a daily basis, in the workplace, in classrooms, and even in our homes. Right now, it’s perfectly legal to add chemicals known to cause cancer to the products we use every day, including children’s toys, furniture, food containers and cosmetics. We must do better.
It’s been one year since the President’s Cancer Panel presented President Obama with a report detailing the science and policies around chemicals and cancer. They concluded that the contribution chemicals make to cancer risk has been greatly understated and urged the President to “most strongly use the power of your office” to eliminate human exposure to cancer-causing chemicals.
Today more than 70,000 Americans are making a reminder call: it’s time for Presidential leadership on chemicals and cancer.
“Last year’s report was a wake-up call to the President from two of the top scientists in the field, but the President hit the snooze button,” said Andy Igrejas, Director of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition, noting that the Panel was appointed by President George W. Bush. “Today more than 70,000 Americans are making a reminder call: it’s time for Presidential leadership on chemicals and cancer.”
Your actions have inspired us to redouble our efforts to eliminate cancer-causing chemicals from our lives. We are also grateful to our coalition partner organizations, which reached out to their memberships and encouraged them to get active on cancer and chemicals. Please stay involved! Be sure to ask your Senator to support the Safe Chemicals Act and follow the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition on Facebook.
Special thanks to all the coalition members who asked their membership to sign the petition. Please learn more about them below:
- Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow (MA)
- American Nurses Association
- Breast Cancer Fund
- Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
- Clean New York
- Clean Water Action
- Ecology Center (MI)
- Environmental Health Strategy Center
- Greenpeace
- Health Care Without Harm
- Healthy Legacy (MN)
- League of Conservation Voters
- Learning Disabilities Association of America
- MomsRising
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- Oregon Environmental Council
- PANNA
- Physicians for Social Responsibility
- Rachel’s Friends Breast Cancer Coalition
- Reproductive Health Technologies Project
