"Congress has passed sweeping legislation to improve the safety of toys and other consumer products.
The bill — approved by the Senate Thursday night and the House of Representatives Tuesday — follows a rising tide of public concern over product safety, spurred by recalls of 45 million children's toys and products last year and growing worry over chemicals in plastic. The measure, which passed with "veto-proof" majorities, now goes to President Bush, who has not threatened to reject it.
The bill virtually eliminates lead in children's toys and bans six types of chemicals, called phthalates, that have hormone-like effects. Lead can cause both brain damage and behavioral problems in children. A number of animal studies and a few in humans have linked phthalates to early puberty in girls, genital defects and reduced testosterone production in boys and impaired sperm quality in men.
Others say the reform is long overdue. Andy Igrejas, manager of the Pew Charitable Trusts' environmental health campaign, says environmentalists have been calling for a phthalate ban in toys for 10 years."
WASHINGTON - The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, today announced that The California Endowment will support up to two health impact assessment (HIA) demonstrations in California.
More infoThe Health Impact Project and National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) have chosen the 10 public health institutes (PHIs) that will participate in a two-day, in-person, health impact assessment (HIA) training at the Pew Conference Center in Washington, DC, November 29-30, 2011.
More infoThe Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Mentorship Project has selected four local health departments and mentor organizations to participate in a joint effort to complete an HIA. The Mentorship Program came about through the combined efforts of the Health Impact Project and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).
More info"In 2007, developers of a planned senior-housing project in Oakland, California, decided to move the entrance from adjacent to a busy highway to a quiet courtyard. The change would make it safer for residents as they walked to and from home. The idea, from an Oakland-based group called Human Impact Partners, addressed a small but nonetheless important health concern that might otherwise have been ignored."
"The importance to public health of environmental decisions—including those about land use, transportation, power generation, agriculture, and environmental regulation—is increasingly well documented. Yet many decision makers in fields not traditionally focused on health continue to pay little if any attention to the important health effects of their work."
More info"The otherwise-routine reauthorization of the Consumer Product Safety Commission this year demonstrated the environmental movement's growing clout over the chemical industry. The new law, advocates say, reverses long-standing practice because it requires the chemical industry to prove the safety of some products before they reach the public."
More info"Environmentalists want to ban BPA -- and also shift the burden of proof for all chemicals."
More info"This summer, when Kellogg recalled 28 million boxes of Froot Loops, Apple Jacks, Corn Pops and Honey Smacks, the company blamed elevated levels of a chemical in the packaging."
"Now, new research suggests that atrazine may be dangerous at lower concentrations than previously thought. Recent studies suggest that, even at concentrations meeting current federal standards, the chemical may be associated with birth defects, low birth weights and menstrual problems."
More infoAndy Igrejas, manager of The Pew Charitable Trusts' Environmental Health Campaign, today issued the following statement in response to the "Green Chemistry" package passed by the California legislature.
More info"Children's advocates say they hope a sweeping consumer protection law passed by Congress last week will begin a broad national effort to shield youngsters from dangerous chemicals."
More infoCongress is venturing into new regulatory territory with a recent ban on several varieties of the plasticizing chemicals known as pthalates. Usually government agencies regulate products on the market, but environmental health advocates say this latest ban shows Congress is picking up the slack on chemical regulation. Host Bruce Gellerman talks with Andy Igrejas of the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Environmental Health Campaign.
More infoAndy Igrejas, manager of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Environmental Health campaign, today issued the following statement in response to the ban on phthalates in children’s toys and childcare articles that was included in the conference agreement on the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act.
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