With the Capitol Hill rumor mill divided on when a bill to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act will come to the Senate floor, we’d like to call your attention to a new Huffington Post article from our coalition partners at the Union of Concerned Scientists. This shows how the chemical industry — with the American Chemistry Council leading the way — is spending millions of dollars to push weak policies that allow our families to be exposed to dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde in our homes despite evidence of profound health effects.
The UCS article tells the story of how, ten years after the public health outcry over families displaced by Hurricane Katrina suffering respiratory problems, burning eyes and other ailments from their exposure to unsafe levels of formaldehyde in cheaply constructed temporary trailers, restrictions on the use of the chemical in our homes and furniture have yet to materialize.
In the article and the UCS report, Bad Chemistry: How the Chemical Industry’s Trade Association Undermines the Policies That Protect Us, are details on how the American Chemistry Council is working hard to stop countless policy efforts to better protect our families.
With so much at stake, let’s tell Senators that we need real reform that gets right to work protecting public health.
Director of Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, Toxic-Free Future's federal policy program
Liz Hitchcock is director of Toxic-Free Future’s federal policy program. She leads advocacy efforts with Congress, EPA and other federal agencies.
