Much-Needed Legislation Would Protect Americans from Unsafe Chemicals
Washington, DC – Led by Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), 29 senators today introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2013. The legislation would provide long overdue fixes to the nation’s broken chemical policies and limit the use of unsafe chemicals linked to cancer and other illnesses.
Andy Igrejas, executive director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a coalition of 450 health, environment, business and labor groups said:
“Americans across the political spectrum have woken up to the fact that unregulated toxic chemicals get into their homes and their bodies. It is uniformly unnerving. The Safe Chemicals Act would establish common sense limits on these chemicals that are broadly popular and long overdue.”
Similar to a bill cleared by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in the 112th Congress, the Safe Chemicals Act would go a long way toward protecting Americans from chemicals before they are linked to reproductive and developmental disorders, cancers and other illnesses that are costly to treat and often preventable. Specifically, it would:
- Require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify and restrict the “worst of the worst” chemicals.
- Require basic health and safety information for chemicals as a condition for entering or remaining on the market.
- Upgrade scientific methods for assessing chemical safety.
- Arm the EPA with the authority it needs to restrict chemicals that pose health and environmental concerns.