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The future of the disarmament agenda is on the line now as New START ratification moves forward in the US Senate.

Protect our Health from Toxic Chemicals

There are 82,000 chemicals available for use in the U.S., yet only about 200 have been assessed for safety.  Only five chemicals have been removed from use based on health and safety concerns.  Just this month, US EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson introduced the Obama Administration's Essential Principles for Reform of Chemicals Management Legislation.

These principles are:

  • Chemicals should be reviewed against safety standards that are based on sound science and reflect risk-based criteria protective of human health and the environment.
  • Manufacturers should provide EPA with the necessary information to conclude that new and existing chemicals are safe and do not endanger public health or the environment.
  • Risk management decisions should take into account sensitive subpopulations, cost, availability of substitutes and other relevant considerations.
  • Manufacturers and EPA should assess and act on priority chemicals, both existing and new, in a timely manner.
  • Green chemistry should be encouraged and provisions assuring transparency and public access to information should be strengthened.
  • EPA should be given a sustained source of funding for implementation.

PSR has been advocating for similar policy solutions for years.  It is encouraging that our leaders are starting to hear our call for chemical reform.  As U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) stated, “America’s system for regulating toxic chemicals is broken. Far too little is known about the hundreds of chemicals that end up in our bodies and EPA has far too little authority to determine their safety…Americans deserve to know that products they rely on – from household cleaners to personal care products to building materials – are safe and will not harm their families.”

Many of the chemicals that Administrator Jackson and Senator Lautenberg are referring to are persistent, can build up in our bodies and cause reported health effects. These chemicals of high concern can be detected in our bodies through biomonitoring.  Biomonitoring is a technique in which blood, urine hair, semen, breast milk, or other biologic specimens are analyzed for the presence of chemicals.

PSR just completed a first-of-its-kind biomonitoring study of health professionals.  It found dangerous toxic chemicals present in the bodies of twenty doctors and nurses from across America. Four of the chemicals found were top chemicals of concern identified by the EPA, and all were endocrine disruptors. 

Evidence of widespread contamination of human beings makes it clear that the nation’s outdated and ineffective chemical management system must be reformed.

Tell your Representative and Senator that we must protect our health from toxic chemicals.

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Resources

  • Hope for a Heated Planet

    Author Bob Musil, former PSR executive director and now scholar-in-residence at American University, has written an insightful and informative account about the climate change issue and how it has finally emerged in the public’s mind as a major public health concern. Read more »

  • Climate Chaos

    Written thoughtfully for a lay audience, this book by PSR Board member Cindy Parker and psychologist and former journalist Steve Shapiro describes in lay terms how climate change will affect our health if it continues unabated. Read more »

  • Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit

    The Toolkit is a combination of easy-to-use reference guides for health providers and user-friendly health education materials on preventing exposures to toxic chemicals and other substances that affect infant and child health. Read more »

In the Spotlight

  • August 16, 2010
    Countdown to Zero
    On the 65th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, the Sacramento Annual August Peace Event and Physicians for Social Responsibility-Sacramento screened "Countdown To Zero," a film that traces the history of the atomic bomb from its origins to the present state of global affairs. Read more about this month’s chapter in the spotlight event on Hiroshima.