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Please Join LDA and MNCEH on October
18, 2011, As We Urge Our Legislators To Prioritize Children's Health
Learn more and RSVP here:
http://bit.ly/MNCEHAdvocacyDay
Our children's health must be prioritized and protected. On Advocacy
Day, we'll ask our State Representatives and Senators to protect
kids from chemicals like cadmium, mercury, brominated flame
retardants, and other toxic chemicals that are found in some
children's products and toys.
During Advocacy Day, teams of parents and grandparents, health
professionals, teachers, and children’s advocates will gather in
Lansing to meet with legislators from across the state. You’ll be
teamed up with experts, so you’ll have all of the information and
support you need. It is critical that our legislators hear from
engaged Michiganders like you. We need you to make this day a
success.
You’re welcome to participate for all or part of the day. Please
RSVP to join us on October 18th to advocate for children’s
environmental health! Schedule: Michigan Capitol, Lansing, MI 48922
- 9:30am: Capitol Room 428, Lobbying 101 and Issue Briefing;
12:00pm: Capitol Lawn, Rally with “Betty” the 25-ft Ducky;
1pm-4:30pm: Meetings with Legislators in the Capitol, Senate, and
House buildings.
Phthalate Exposure in Pregnancy Shows
Up in Toddlers
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-phthalates-20110907,0,1223454.story
Seems we can't get rid of phthalates fast enough. Yet another study
suggests that the chemicals, which are found in many plastic toys,
household items and personal care products, may be detrimental to
children. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year added
phthalates to its list of "chemicals of concern" targeted for
possible future regulation. California law prevents any product made
for young children that contains more than one-tenth of one percent
of phthalates from being made or sold in the state.
Stress–Pollution Interactions: An
Emerging Issue in Children’s Health Research
http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.119-a430
Cumulative risk assessment posits that multiple agents work together
to induce disease and that multiple stressors therefore must be
considered in order to gain a true understanding of why adverse
health effects occur.1 Now a small but growing number of scientists
are pushing the envelope by investigating whether chronic
psychological stress might be one of those factors, enhancing a
child’s vulnerability to certain chemical exposures and contributing
to effects that later show up as asthma, neurodevelopmental
disorders, cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer, and other
problems.
How Lobbyists Are Spinning Weak
Science to Defend BPA
http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/09/how-lobbyists-are-spinning-weak-science-to-defend-bpa/245657/
They're arguing that a new study shows canned foods to be safe, even
when lined with BPA. The problem? That's not what the study says.
Jewelers Want States to
Replace Limits on Cadmium
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/jewelers-states-replace-limits-cadmium-14611665
The U.S jewelry industry wants states to overturn laws that limit
the toxic metal cadmium in children's trinkets and adopt new
voluntary guidelines it helped create, saying stricter rules in
several states create chaos for manufacturers and importers.
Persuading legislators to reopen the issue won't be an easy sell:
Many consumer and environmental advocates say the new guidelines
weaken protection of children's health.
BPA Chemical Ban Takes Effect
Saturday; Connecticut Won't Allow Toxic Substance In Certain
Children's Products
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-state-laws-1001-20110930,0,3098509.story
Environmental advocates are celebrating a law that takes effect
Saturday banning a toxic chemical from certain children's products.
The law is the first of its kind in the nation to ban products
containing bisphenol A, or BPA, which is used to harden plastic. The
chemical can no longer be used in reusable food and beverage
containers, including containers of infant formula and baby food,
reusable spill-proof cups, plastic sports bottles, and Thermoses.
The sports bottles sometimes carry the names of popular sports
teams.
It's Elemental: Many Private Wells
Across U.S. are Contaminated with Arsenic and Other Elements
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2011/its-elemental-many-private-wells-are-contaminated
In Nebraska, along the Platte River, it’s uranium. In Maine, New
Hampshire and Massachusetts, it’s arsenic. In California, boron. And
in the Texas Panhandle, lithium. Throughout the nation, metals and
other elements are tainting private drinking water wells at
concentrations that pose a health concern. For one element –
manganese – contamination is so widespread that water wells with
excessive levels are found in all but just a few states. Arsenic,
too, is a national problem, scattered in every region. In the first
national effort to monitor well water for two dozen trace elements,
geologists have discovered that 13 percent of untreated drinking
water contains at least one element at a concentration that exceeds
federal health regulations or guidelines. That rate far outpaces
other contaminants, including industrial chemicals and pesticides.
The most troubling finding involves the widespread contamination of
private wells, which are unmonitored and unregulated.
EPA Launches New Mapping Tool to
Improve Public Access to Enforcement Information / Mapping feature
supports the White House Regulatory Compliance Transparency
Initiative and improves public access to information
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/11b66f2fb16058ac8525791b005ac1e2?OpenDocument
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the
release of a new mapping feature in EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance
History Online (ECHO) database. As part of EPA’s ongoing effort to
improve transparency, the EPA and State Enforcement Actions Map will
allow the public to access federal and state enforcement information
in an interactive format and to compare enforcement action
information by state. The map will be refreshed monthly to include
up to date information about the enforcement actions taken to
address violations of air, water, and waste laws.
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