Support the Kids Safe Chemicals Act

Support the Kids Safe Chemicals Act

 

 

 May 23, 2008 

  

 

Dear Friends, 

  

In keeping with the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology’s mission to identify, control and ultimately prevent exposures to environmental factors that may cause adult, and especially pediatric cancer, as well as other health problems with our children, we are pleased to enthusiastically endorse the Kid Safe Chemicals Act (KSCA), introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg and Representative Henry Waxman on May 20, 2008. 

  

Forty years after Rachel Carson first warned us about the deadly effects of toxic chemicals, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has never evaluated the safety of most chemicals used in consumer products today. 

  

The goal of this legislation is to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 and respond to the growing body of scientific research that identifies various chemical exposures as contributing agents in the rise of diseases and disorders such as asthma, some cancer, infertility, birth defects and neurological and developmental disorders.  

  

The Kid Safe Chemicals Act Would: 

•Acknowledge kids’ unique vulnerability to toxic exposures by establishing a standard of safety that accounts for children’s special sensitivities. 

•Protect kids by requiring manufacturers to provide health and safety information prior to distributing a chemical in consumer products. 

•Prioritize chemicals to make sure the worst chemicals are examined first. 

•Close the knowledge gap in our understanding of chemical safety risks.  

 

  

Passage of The Kid Safe Chemicals Act may be one of the most important legislative actions this year and is a major priority for the Center. 

  

Understanding our shared interest in protecting children’s health, we invite you to join us in support of this important legislation. 

  

Thank you, 

  

Deirdre Imus