The JustGreen Partnership

A clean and safe environment is every person’s birthright. It is not a privilege exclusively for the wealthy and well-connected, but a right for everyone. Safeguarding the natural environment can't be separated from promoting social justice. All people have a right to a world free of exposure to harmful chemicals in our air, water and food, where children grow up healthy with every opportunity to thrive. The JustGreen Partnership seeks to build a healthy economy that provides good jobs producing clean products and services, in which our workplaces, schools, homes, communities and bodies are free of toxic chemicals.

Giant Rubber Ducky Lands In Albany

Parents, Advocates Tell the NYS Senate: Don't Duck Reform – Protect Kids from Toxics

In the wake of the May 22nd National Stroller Brigade for Safe Chemicals, parents, toddlers, and advocates gathered in front of a 25' Rubber Ducky and urged the New York State Senate to protect children from toxic chemicals. They called on the Senate to introduce and pass legislation that would identify chemicals of high concern, select priority chemicals from the high concern list, require children's product makers to report their use, and ultimately phase them out.

Concerns have been raised within the scientific community about the role of synthetic chemicals in the rise of many common diseases and illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, learning disabilities, inability to have children (including both female infertility and damage to sperm), hormone disruption, obesity and diabetes, to name a few. A number of these chemicals are used in products children touch every day.  Yet product makers don't disclose the chemicals in their products, and the scientific information is complex.

“As the mom of an adult with autism and developmental disabilities, I can’t help but wonder what she was exposed to in her crib and what toxic toys we might have bought her,” said Julia Walter, who is trained as a special education teacher. “People think of children with autism – they forget this is a lifelong condition.”

“At this point, I feel like I would have to be a toxicologist with a full chemistry lab in my basement just to understand what's in my children's toys, furniture and car seats,” said Sarah Howard, mother of two. “Parents have enough on their plates – they shouldn't have to worry about whether their baby's nursing pillow is leaching dangerous chemicals.”

The last few weeks have seen startling revelations about the tactics some chemical companies have used to keep toxic chemicals in common children's products and other household furnishings. The Chicago Tribune revealed in a four-day, front-page series that makers of “flame retardants” - including those used in nursing pillows, car seats, strollers, changing pads, couches and more – have used “Big Tobacco” tactics to keep their chemicals in use.  The series documents the failure of these chemicals in household products to prevent fires, and illuminated the health problems posed by many of them. The three chemical makers – Albemarle, Chemtura, and ICL – have used a front-group called Citizens for Fire Safety Institute to distort both fire science and toxicological studies.

Read more...

Assembly Votes to Protect Children from Toxics

The New York State Assembly overwhelmingly passed the Child-Safe Products Act 104-39 in the early Wednesday evening, after minimal debate.  The bipartisan show of support for children’s health was lauded by parents, teachers, nurses, health advocates, and others.

The measure, A. 3141a, sponsored by Assemblyman Robert Sweeney, was backed by the JustGreen Partnership, a broad, diverse collaboration of over 50 organizations representing more than a million New Yorkers.  It contains the following provisions: 

1. Establishment of a list of “chemicals of high concern” that appear on authoritative government lists as causing cancer, reproductive problems, learning and developmental disabilities, and other common chronic health problems. 
2. Identification of “priority chemicals,” starting with a dozen chemicals that include heavy metals and carcinogens. 
3. A requirement that manufacturers disclose their use of priority chemicals in products made for children ages 12 and under. 
4. Starting in 2016, a prohibition on sales in New York of children’s products containing priority chemicals.  The bill also enables the State to leverage resources by working with a multi-state collaborative called the Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse.

“Children are more sensitive to and are at an increased risk from chemical exposure. Currently, New York prohibits the use of dangerous chemicals on a chemical-by-chemical basis.  The Presidents’ Cancer Panel reported that nearly 80,000 chemicals are used in the country today, many of which are unstudied and largely unregulated. We must act to protect children's health from unnecessary toxic chemicals found in everyday products.  It’s time to put health concerns first and we can start this process by protecting our children.  This bill sets up a regulatory framework in which dangerous chemicals in children's products can be banned. I urge the Senate to follow the Assembly's lead on this issue," said Assemblyman Bob Sweeney, Chair of the New York State Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation.

"Protecting our children from exposure to toxic chemicals makes good public health sense.  According to the World Health Organization, 25% of all chronic illnesses can be linked to environmental exposures.  Eliminating the exposures during the child's formative years means a healthier future population," said Thomas Lowe, MPH, RN, COHN-S, Health and Safety Representative for the New York State Nurses Association.  “ Our legislators should be proud of the legacy they are leaving for that future population.”

"We applaud the Assembly for passing this important bill as part of their green agenda," said Saima Anjam of Environmental Advocates of New York. "Targeting chemicals in children’s products is a key step to reducing harmful effects of unnecessary exposure in children and the environment."

"New York can take a quantum leap forward in protecting children from toxic chemical exposures by passing the Child-Safe Products Act," said NYPIRG Legislative Counsel Russ Haven.  "The Assembly has done its part by passing Assemblyman Sweeney's comprehensive bill.  It's now time for the Senate to stand up for children's health by passing legislation that will begin the process of identifying toxic chemical usage and getting toxics out of kids' consumer products." 

Groups pointed to outdated and ineffective federal laws aimed at managing chemicals in the marketplace, especially the Toxic Substance Control Act, as well as enactment of policies similar to A3141a in other states, as why New York should take action.  The U.S. Senate is advancing the Safe Chemicals act to reform TSCA, co-sponsored by both New York Senators, but there is no foreseeable action in the House.

“62,000 chemicals were assumed safe in 1976, and were allowed to be used widely in commerce without any meaningful information on environmental and health impacts.  Now there roughly 80,000 chemicals used in commerce,” said Kathy Curtis, Executive Director of Clean and Healthy New York. “While work continues to fix our broken federal laws, New York’s children continue to bear the brunt of unchecked use of chemicals that can affect their health and development.  Our State must take action now.”

Organizations in the JustGreen Partnership are now turning their attention to the New York State Senate.

It's Time for Child-Safe Products, Says Diverse Coalition

Groups Praise Bi-Partisan Advancement of Bill Through Assembly Codes Committee

(Albany) Parents, businesses, health care professionals, health advocates, environmental groups and others praised the bi-partisan vote (17-5) for advancement of A. 3141a, known as the Child Safe Products Act, through the Assembly Codes Committee today.     The legislation, sponsored by Assemblyman Bob Sweeney, creates a framework for identifying and addressing toxic chemicals used in children's products.  Recent studies have shown ongoing widespread use in children's products of chemicals that can cause cancer, increase the likelihood of learning disabilities, disrupt hormones, and mutate DNA.

Organizations in the JustGreen Partnership, a diverse health-based coalition, agree that the Child Safe Products Act will help make New York a healthier place.

"The incidence of learning disabilities and related neurological impairments such as autism is on the rise, and with this comes enormous personal challenges, family challenges, and increasing costs to health, educational and and social support systems," said Stephen Boese, Executive Director of the Learning Disabilities Association of New York State. "Chemicals now found in children's products can cause  learning and other developmental disabilities.  We applaud the Assembly for advancing a framework policy to address toxic chemicals and thereby taking a necessary and important step towards prevention of future incidence of learning and developmental disabilities." 

NYS Assembly Votes Unanimously to Ban Chlorinated Tris

In a bipartisan victory for children's health, the New York State Assembly passed A. 9045, which expands the Tris-free Children and Babies Act to include the form of tris (TDCPP) that was removed from children's sleepwear in 1979 because it can mutate DNA.  Studies have since shown that TDCPP can harm the developing brain,  disrupt hormones, and cause cancer.   The State of California’s Carcinogen Identification Council has determined it is a carcinogen.  The diverse collaboration of health-affected organizations, environmental justice groups, teachers, nurses, business leaders and environmental health organizations, known as the JustGreen Partnership, praised the bill's passage, and urged the New York Senate to follow suit.

In NYS Assembly Committees, Unanimous Support for Toxic Tris Bans

It’s clear that for New York legislators, children’s health has bipartisan support.  On Thursday, the Assembly Codes committee unanimously advanced a ban on the toxic chemical Tris to the Assembly Floor.  Tris, the common name for TDCPP, is a cancer-causing, hormone-disrupting chemical currently added to many foam products, including those for infants and very young children.  The proposed law would ban Tris in products made for children ages three and under.

This action comes as Washington State is considering similar legislation in a session that ends March 8th.