Pingree presents bill to protect kids from toxic chemicals

February 28, 2008

AUGUSTA –A number of Maine lawmakers, advocates for public health, families, children and the environment are concerned that toxic chemicals are finding their way into household products in the United States. One legislative leader is proposing a bill to test, track and eliminate dangerous chemicals from products that are exposed to children in Maine, and the bill is already catching on in states across the country.

House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven, spoke to a packed crowd at a press conference at the State House Welcome Center Thursday about the problem of manufacturers using untested and unregulated toxic chemicals in household products, particularly ones that are exposed to children.

She is proposing that the State creates a regularly-updated list of chemicals that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection identifies as harmful, and requires manufacturers to disclose if their products contain those chemicals. It would establish a process for replacing them with safer alternatives, and allow the Department to cooperate with other states, share information and promote safer chemical use.

“ The vast majority of the public does not have the information they need about chemicals in their products and the products that they expose to their kids,” Pingree said at the press conference.

The Federal Toxic Substances and Control Act has not been substantially updated since 1976, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission has only one toy tester and 15 inspectors to check millions of toys at hundreds of ports of entry in the U.S. Of the 80,000 chemicals in everyday products today, only about ten percent of them have been tested for their effects on humans.

“ It’s no surprise that manufacturers are distributing these chemicals into households across Maine and America, because no one has told them not to,” Pingree said. “And in the rare instances where a chemical has been regulated, no one has been there to stop them from breaking the rules.”

Recent toy recalls around the Christmas season brought the issue of chemicals in children’s products to the forefront nationally, but only exposed cases where toxics that have already been banned or regulated – namely lead - made their way into toys in the American product stream. But Pingree and bill supporters say that scientific evidence proves there are numerous chemicals of concern still on the market that are being ingested by kids, rubbed on skin, and leaching into the environment and people’s bodies every day.

“ Most times when I talk to parents about this issue they’re outraged,” Pingree said. “They ask why this isn’t on the front page of every newspaper, and why the federal government isn’t making this a priority. This bill will put the issue on the front of the radar screen here in Maine, and hopefully Washington is listening.”

A broad range of supporters representing health and environmental advocates, family and faith-based organizations turned out for both the press conference and to testify in support of the bill before the Natural Resources Committee. Bill co-sponsor and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ted Koffman said that Washington is not listening and the state is taking responsible action on its own.

“ Like the issue of climate change, toxic chemical issues find themselves in the state of denial in Washington,” said Koffman, D-Bar Harbor. He said that his wife is an avid researcher when shopping for the safest products, and has gone as far as to order a mattress from California to ensure that it didn’t contain toxic chemicals. But he said that most people aren’t lucky enough to be able to do that research.

“ She shouldn’t have to do that, any more than you shouldn’t have to inspect a plane before you take off in it,” Koffman said.

Pingree presented the bill to Koffman and the rest of the committee in more detail Thursday afternoon. The legislation would put in place a reliable system for chemicals of concern that would identify and test chemicals through a similar process to one that the legislature followed in banning the deca-BDE flame retardant with broad bipartisan support in 2007. Pingree sponsored the bill that banned deca after years of research in Maine, other states and Europe proved the chemical was harmful, and that there are safer alternatives available.

Her bill would start with a list of already identified chemicals of concern that an authoritative government agency has determined are hazardous to health or the environment based on credible scientific evidence. After a review of the evidence, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection would identify the priority chemicals that children are specifically exposed to.

Manufacturers or distributors of products must then notify the State as to which children’s products contain that chemical, in what amount and for what purpose. Pingree said that she hopes this step will encourage manufacturers to move to safer products voluntarily, but at the very least it will inform consumers of what they’re buying.

“ While the overall goal of this bill is to move those products out of the market entirely, it also aims to inform Mainers about the risks that some household products pose to their family’s safety and help them to make smart decisions,” Pingree said in prepared testimony that she presented to the Committee.

If the DEP determines that a safer alternative to a priority chemical in a children’s product is available, effective and safer, then they will require the manufacturer to replace that chemical with a safer alternative.

Finally, the bill would establish an interstate clearinghouse with other states that are considering similar legislation, in order to share research and information and push for bans on the most dangerous chemicals together. Pingree said at least 12 states are considering bills similar to hers, including Maryland, Nebraska, West Virginia and Hawaii, and that the Washington State House of Representatives has unanimously passed a similar bill already. The European Union passed comprehensive chemical policy in 2007, and is years ahead of the United States in research and efforts to ban dangerous chemicals. Pingree said that information provided from European states will be crucial to Maine’s efforts.

“ We cannot expect Maine DEP to do all of the work on their own, and we cannot expect Maine to affect market change by ourselves,” Pingree said. “Fortunately, there are states across the country that are ready to work with Maine, share information and move the market toward safer alternatives.”

Other supporters offered testimony on the bill Thursday, including DEP Commissioner David Littell, who also said that a lack of federal regulation is forcing the state to act.

“ We cannot rely on the current federal regulatory system to provide adequate consumer protection regarding chemicals in children’s products in Maine,” Littell said in a prepared statement. “We have determined that taking action on the state level is essential in order to protect our citizens, and we are once again taking a leadership role in initiating action.” Littell described a history of instances when Maine has led nationally in protecting its citizens from harmful chemicals, including chlorofluorocarbons, mercury, and most recently the deca PBDE in 2007.

In a rare instance of solidarity among two typical legislative rivals, Marc Mutty of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and Chris Quint from Planned Parenthood of Northern New England both spoke in favor of Pingree’s bill. Mutty said in written testimony that the “Universal Church as well as the Church in the US considers these issues fundamental issues of values and ethics," and that prohibiting toxic chemicals is important to "the concept of protecting and nurturing human life at all stages of development.”

Quint echoed Mutty’s concerns about child development, saying that “we must begin to turn our attention to the environmental toxins that are affecting the ability of couples to become pregnant, have a healthy pregnancy, and give birth to a healthy child.”

Lani Graham of the Maine Medical Association offered strong testimony in support of the bill, and talked about the years of challenging battles waged by health organizations in Maine and across the country against producers of lead and tobacco as examples of the challenging history behind states taking on known carcinogen producers. She said that chemical manufacturers will launch an expensive campaign against Pingree’s bill as they have against similar bills in the past, and even predicted some of the arguments that she expected to hear.

“ Today as in the past you will hear the exact same resistance to change that was heard decades ago –that more research is needed, that it would hurt business, that the federal government is taking care of it. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad,” said Graham. “Who can forget the image of tobacco executives swearing in Congress that they could not know that tobacco is harmful and addictive?”

Mike Belliveau, representing the Environmental Health Strategy Center, said that the State could benefit from positive economic impacts through the bill.

“ There is much in the way of economic opportunity for those companies that are meeting the demand for eco-friendly materials,” said Belliveau. He provided letters from several Maine companies supporting the legislation, including Interface Fabrics, Correct Building Products and Tom’s of Maine supporting the proposal.

“ They want a level playing field, and they suffer from the same challenge that we as consumers suffer; a difficulty of getting information about chemicals they are using,” Belliveau said of the green-friendly companies making products in the State.

Elisa Boxer-Cook was not representing an organization, but spoke as a concerned mother about her personal research indicating that some manufacturers actually make two versions of the same toy – a safer version for Europe, because the European Union has much stronger chemical policy, and an American version, made with cheaper materials because American standards are lower and the country allows the use of toxic chemicals.

Other bill supporters included representatives from the Maine AFL-CIO, the Maine Women’s Lobby, Maine Audubon, the Natural Resources Council of Maine and the Maine League of Conservation Voters, who identified the bill as one of their six priorities for the 2008 legislative session.

A representative of the American Chemistry Council and lobbyists representing personal care products, pharmaceutical organizations and toys testified against the bill, although some offered amendments and were willing to work with the Committee on the bill. Steve Rosario, the American Chemistry Council’s spokesman, said that there are certain risks associated with every product people come in contact with and that the federal government is better equipped to handle the research.

“ I never know if one of my neighbors is going to commit a crime. But if he or she does, the system kicks in,” Rosario said. After the hearing Pingree responded that her bill is meant to go beyond catching product makers who are using banned substances, and actually identify dangerous chemicals that are being used freely and ignored completely by the federal government.

Pingree’s bill is similar to one proposed by Governor Baldacci and the Department of Environmental Protection, based on a report by the Governor’s Task Force to Promote Safer Chemicals in Consumer Products that was released in December. Pingree worked with advocates and the Department to develop an amendment that will harmonize the two bills, and the Committee will only need to work one through the legislative system. The Committee is expected to hold a work session on the bill on Tuesday, at which point they will consider amendments and make a full recommendation to the entire legislature.

“ The evidence is clear that inaction is not acceptable,” Pingree said.

Contact:

Travis Kennedy, Communications Director, 287-1433