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Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) manages to combine business success with a commitment to sustainability. “The moral and operational imperatives are here, now, for health care to support safer chemicals reform. This isn’t just a fight between environmentalists and the chemical industry, it’s really about who cares for human health.”

Kaiser Permanente uses its purchasing clout to create new markets for safer medical products, and has spent years removing toxic chemicals from its operations to protect patient health. But the people at Kaiser realize their own efforts will always fall short without robust federal laws to support them.

For many of us, cancer feels like it surrounds us – so many friends, family members, co-workers, and neighbors seem to be carrying this health burden in neighborhoods throughout our state, and throughout the nation. In Massachusetts, one hundred people on average are diagnosed with cancer every day. Since the mid 1980s cancer rates have risen 14% among men and 19% among women. The good news: due to a landmark law passed here in 1989, we’re making real progress in stemming this tide.

As the US Senate begins consideration of the recently introduced Chemical Safety Improvement Act, I want them to think about the brain. Most of us don’t think about our brains. It’s like thinking about our hearts beating or about the sun rising and setting each day. The human brain develops in an incredibly intricate and elegantly orchestrated series of events. Brain cells (neurons) divide, migrate, differentiate and communicate. At birth, a baby’s brain has about 100 billion neurons that are in place and beginning to connect with each other, sending and receiving messages. The brain continues to grow and strengthen connections throughout childhood. Wow. That’s a lot happening in just nine months. But that’s not the part I really want our Senators to think about.

You may have already heard of the The Toxies – a satirical red carpet awards ceremony for “bad actor” chemicals. This multi-media campaign was created by the statewide coalition of non-profits, Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy (CHANGE) and led by Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles (PSR-LA). See highlights from the past award ceremonies here.

This year, we’re ditching those awards (which were probably toxic anyway!) and launching a new websisode series called, The Toxies: Exposed. Through seven short videos, we follow a daring investigative journalist as he chases down toxic chemicals and pollutants, raising awareness about toxics in our homes, schools, workplaces and communities.

Researchers released a new study of chemical hazards in picnic products sold at top ten national retailers, finding most have one or more hazardous chemicals linked to serious health problems. The nonprofit Ecology Center tested 58 common outdoor picnic products for substances that have been linked to asthma, birth defects, learning disabilities, reproductive problems, liver toxicity and cancer.

I am a Great Lakes enthusiast; in fact my love of the lakes is one of the driving forces that led me to this work. I spend my summer vacation on Lake Superior, took frequent camping trips along the North Shore of Superior in college, and have enjoyed friend’s weddings along the banks of Lake Michigan.

There’s something about the Great Lakes that hooks us. Whether or not you live in a Great Lakes state, if you’ve experienced their beauty you know how important it is to protect them.

That’s why dozens of Great Lakes organizations have come together to ask the nation’s top ten retailers to protect these valuable resources from toxic chemical pollutants. As part of the letter to retailers, the organizations attached a new fact sheet highlighting some of the new science around toxic chemical pollutants in the Great Lakes, including the nasty “PBT” chemicals that stay in the environment, to “emerging contaminants” like Triclosan, which are rapidly rising as Great Lakes pollutants.

Just when you thought you weren't depressed enough with the 24 hour news cycle regurgitating nonstop stories about the failure of our government to do anything, it can actually get worse—when you witness it first hand for the very first time. Yes, Stupid Cancer went to Washington and this is my comedy of terrors.

Wednesday was a big day. For the first time this year, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee discussed what it will take to pass strong laws on toxic chemicals. So, why was this Congressional hearing such a big deal?

In May, Senator Vitter and the late Senator Lautenberg introduced a bi-partisan bill to reform our federal law on toxic chemicals. The bill as drafted, has serious flaws, but provided a rare political breakthrough against deep partisan gridlock. Today's hearing was the first discussion on a path forward since the compromise bill was introduced.

What a day! Today was a marathon, six hour long hearing in the Senate on a path forward on toxic chemicals. 

We hosted a twitter chat which was full of rich discussion, questions and experts from across the country.

You can see highlights from the first part of the twitter chat here.