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| Red-Carpet Treatment for the worst toxic chemicals! A tongue-in-cheek awards ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard will highlight the need for Green Chemistry to take action on "the worst of the worst" chemicals. | |
| FDA officials announced that they had reversed their position that bisphenol A is safe. The chemical, used to line most food and beverage cans, has been found in the urine of 93% of Americans tested. | |
| A new report says that California could save at least $700 million in health care costs if more stringent state and federal chemical policy helped reduce Californians’ exposure to toxic chemicals. "The Health Case for Reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act” finds that the state has the opportunity to prevent rising rates of chronic disease and therefore reduce health care costs. Evidence is strong that chemical exposures contribute significantly to the rise in cancer, learning and developmental disabilities, asthma and other diseases, according to this new report synthesizing peer-reviewed science and economic analyses. | |
| A toxic flame retardant will be largely phased out of the United States market, according to an announcement today from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). | |
| Gov. Schwarzenegger's staff released documents outlining ways to reduce exposure to dangerous toxic chemicals. This program, if adopted, would be the first of its kind across the country | |
| On Mother’s Day weekend California moms will have comfort in knowing that toys will be free of hormone disrupting chemicals know as phthalates. In October of 2007 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed landmark legislation, The Toxic Toy Bill (AB 1108), authored by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco), which made California the first state in the country to ban dangerous chemicals used in baby toys. The legislation was passed and signed during a time of increased scrutiny over toy safety. | |
| California made environmental history again today when Governor Schwarzenegger signed two major environmental bills designed to regulate, for the first time, toxic chemicals in consumer products. | |
| The California Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a lawsuit yesterday against five manufacturers of baby furniture for high levels of formaldehyde in products such as cribs and changing tables. Lawsuit cites Environment California Research & Policy Center's lastest report. | |
| Baby nursery cribs, changing tables, and dressers can emit formaldehyde at levels linked with increased risk of childhood allergies and asthma, according to a new report released today by Environment California Research & Policy Center. In Toxic Baby Furniture: The Latest Case for Making Products Safe from the Start, Environment California Research & Policy Center worked with an independent laboratory to determine whether formaldehyde emissions from common baby nursery furnishings significantly contribute to indoor air pollution. | |
| There are currently over 80,000 chemicals on the market in the U.S., the vast majority of which lack even basic information on health effects and toxicity. We do know, however, that many widely-used chemicals have known or probable links to cancer, birth defects, reproductive impacts, and other health problems such as learning disabilities. While the incidence of these diseases has been increasing for decades, a whole host of other obstacles to healthy development has also been on the rise, including premature birth, low birth weight, early puberty and childhood obesity. Recent science indicates that these problems, too, may be related, at least in part, to chemical exposure. While millions of affected children and their families cope with the reality of these conditions right now, we also must consider the profound future implications of a drop in average IQ or a decrease in the average age of sexual maturation. | |
| A new Environment California analysis of a proposed Bush administration rule reveals that residents of California would lose valuable information about the amounts and type of harmful chemicals discharged by industrial facilities in their neighborhoods if the rule is finalized. | |
| AB 289 (Chan), a bill that would give the state the tools it needs to detect potentially-harmful chemicals that currently go undetected in our bodies and the environment, passed out of the Assembly on Monday, January 30th. | |
| The Healthy Day Cares bill—AB 2865 (Torrico)—passed in the Assembly Human Services Committee Tuesday, April 25th. The bill would require private licensed day care facilities to notify parents about pesticide applications and to post notices in areas treated with pesticides. | |
| The Stop Toxic Toys bill, which would ban two toxic chemicals—phthalates and bisphenol-A—from children’s toys and feeding products, passed the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, May 23rd, in an 11-0 vote. | |
| The Healthy Day Cares bill—AB 2865 (Torrico)—passed out of the Assembly Wednesday, May 31st. The bill would require private licensed day care facilities to notify parents about pesticide applications and to post notices in areas treated with pesticides. | |
| The Stop Toxic Toys bill, which would ban two toxic chemicals—phthalates and bisphenol-A—from children’s toys and feeding products, heads to Mayor Gavin Newsom after final passage by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, June 6th. | |
| The Stop Toxic Toys bill, which bans two toxic chemicals—phthalates and bisphenol-A—from children’s toys and feeding products, was signed into law by Mayor Gavin Newsom on Friday, June 16. The law takes effect on December 1, 2006. | |
| The Healthy Day Cares bill—AB 2865 (Torrico)—heads to the governor after final bipartisan approval by the California Legislature on Wednesday, August 30. | |
| Gov. Schwarzenegger signed into law AB 289 (Chan), a bill that would ensure the availability of chemical detection methods for programs such as the biomonitoring program also signed into law today. | |
| Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law the Healthy Day Cares bill—AB 2865 (Torrico). The new law will require private licensed day care centers to notify parents about pesticide applications and post notices in areas treated with pesticides. | |
| A hormone-disrupting toxic chemical known to be a developmental, neural, and reproductive toxicant—called bisphenol A—leaches from popular clear, plastic baby bottles, according to a new report released today by Environment California Research and Policy Center. | |
| Exposure to dangerous toxic pollution from industrial facilities threatens communities in California and across the country, according to a new report released today by Environment California. | |
| The Assembly Health Committee passed AB 1108 The Toxic Toys bill (Ma), a bill that would ban the use of six phthalates, toxic chemicals that can cause reproductive and genital defects, from products intended for kids under the age of three. | |
| Late in the evening the California State Assembly passed AB 1108 (Ma), a bill that will phase out the use of phthalates from products intended for kids under the age of three. The bill passed with 41 votes. | |
| The California State Senate passed AB 1108 (Ma), a bill that will phase out the use of phthalates from products intended for kids under the age of three. The bill passed with 41 votes. | |
| One thousand phthalate-free rubber ducks marched to the state capitol this morning as part of an event to urge Governor Schwarzenegger to sign the Toxics Toys Bill (AB 1108 - Ma), a bill that would phase out the use of phthalates in products intended for kids under the age of three. Phthalates, known toxic chemicals, can leach out of baby products when chewed on, entering children’s bodies. | |
| Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law AB 1108 (Ma), making California the first state in the country to ban the use of phthalates from children’s products. | |
