Today, February 4, the Senate Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health is holding a hearing to examine the current science on public exposure to toxic chemicals. The federal law governing toxic chemical production and use, the Toxic Substances Control Act, is due to be updated with new legislation by Subcommittee Chair, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) in early 2010.
Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families is bringing you the live web audio feed courtesy of Pacifica Radio Network and Free Speech Radio News.
Part One:
Part Two:
Listen to the Senate Hearing Feb 4, 10:00 am (EST) with the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health as they examine current science on public exposures to toxic chemicals.
Studies show that chemicals from everyday consumer products are now present in people’s bodies. Scientific evidence is strong and growing that linkages exist between exposure to these toxic chemicals and the incidence of diseases and conditions such as asthma, autism, breast cancer, leukemia, thyroid disease and learning disabilities.
The hearing will feature testimony from Molly Jones Gray, MD of Seattle, Washington. Dr. Gray was a participant in a first-of-its-kind biomonitoring study by Washington Toxics Coalition that tested blood and urine from pregnant women during their second trimester of pregnancy and found their bodies contaminated with chemicals found in a wide variety of consumer products. Ms. Gray, now the mother of a seventh-month old son, will testify to Congress about her reaction to learning her body was contaminated by toxic chemicals during pregnancy.
Other witnesses include:
- Tracey J. Woodruff PhD, MPH, Associate Professor and Director, Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Woodruff reviewed the recently released report by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, “The Health Case for Reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act.”
- Stephen Owens, Assistant Administrator, Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, EPA
- Henry Falk M.D., M.P.H. Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, CDC
- John Stephenson, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, GAO
- Linda Birnbaum Ph.D., D.A.B.T., A.T.S., Director, National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences
- Ken Cook, President, Environmental Working Group
- Charles McKay MD FACMT, FACEP, ABIM Division of Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine, Hartford Hospital