Tired of Toxics? We need you NOW!
Posted April 30th, 2010 by Ariana KellyFor years now, we’ve been working to get dangerous chemicals out of children’s products. Now our voices are being heard — and things are heating up in Washington, DC!
In case you’ve been a little busy with juggling work, laundry, and a hectic schedule this week, here is the scoop:
*Following the momentum we built passing state laws in Maryland, Connecticut, Washington, Minnesota and Wisconsin; a federal bill banning BPA has emerged with a real chance in the U.S. Senate.
*After more than a year of organizing from moms and allies, the Safe Chemicals Act has finally been introduced. This bill would completely overhaul the way we regulate toxic chemicals in this country – requiring chemicals to be proven safe before they go on the market.
MomsRising is ramping up our work on these two *HOT* federal bills that have the potential to keep our kids safe from toxic chemicals. But to do this, we need your help raising $10,000 in the next ten days.
Will you chip in $10 or more TODAY to help us protect kids from toxic chemicals?
What’s the plan?
Last week, people across America sent tens of thousands of messages to Congress urging them to support these important bills and protect kids from toxic chemicals. With your contribution, we will be able to build on this momentum by generating a groundswell of citizen action–through emails, phone calls, petitions, in-person visits, and more — calling on Congress to stand up for families, not chemical industry lobbyists, and get this reform done now. And we’ll make sure Congress can’t ignore us by organizing volunteers in key states to don their MomsRising supermom t-shirts and personally deliver these petitions to their members of Congress.
We need to raise a total of $10,000 in the next ten days to counter a massive campaign from well-funded industry lobbyists who are ramping up their opposition to this important change.
4 Comments
We must all face this tragic truth in addition to just toxins in plastic toys for the sake of our children, their future and our planet. Mothers unite: http://www.vbs.tv/watch/toxic/toxic-garbage-island-1-of-3
Additionally, I strongly urge all mothers to raise their children on simple toys made of real materials; allow them to make things out of cardboard boxes, for example; to use their imaginations before they ever learn to use a computer of any kind, until the frontal cortex is fully formed in their brain. Do not interpret for them. Allow them to tell you their own perceptions. Nurture critical thinking and release individuals into this society, we all need this strength again in America.
[Reply]
April 30, 2010 at 6:14 pm by RihanaMaking industrial chemicals safer is something we can all get behind. However, if we want safer chemicals and a safer environment then we must use nonanimal methods of testing.
Currently, many toxicity tests are based on experiments in animals and use methods that were developed as long ago as the 1930’s; they and are slow, inaccurate, open to uncertainty and manipulation, and do not adequately protect human health. These tests take anywhere from months to years, and tens of thousands to millions of dollars to perform. More importantly, the current testing paradigm has a poor record in predicting effects in humans and an even poorer record in leading to actual regulation of dangerous chemicals.
The blueprint for the development and implementation of nonanimal testing is the National Academy of Sciences report, “Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy in 2007.” This report calls for a shift away from the use of animals in toxicity testing. The report also concludes that human cell- and computer-based approaches are the best way to protect human health because they allow us to understand more quickly and accurately the varied effects that chemicals can have on different groups of people. They are also more affordable and more humane.
These methods are ideal for assessing the real world scenarios such as mixtures of chemicals, which have proven problematic using animal-based test methods. And, they’re the only way we can assess all chemicals on the market.
[Reply]
Anonymous Reply:
May 4th, 2010 at 9:44 am
@Rihana, Thank you so much for bringing this to light.
[Reply]
Leave a Comment