Child-Safe Chemicals  

Toxic chemicals threaten children’s health

The Illinois Legislature is considering an Environment Illinois-backed bill that would begin to reform our failed chemical safety policies—and would start by getting two known toxics out of children’s products.

The recent recalls of millions of popular children’s toys, due to dangerous lead paint, is hard evidence that the federal government and manufacturers are failing to protect public health from toxic chemicals. Unfortunately, these recalls are just the tip of the toxic iceberg when it comes to children’s products. Lead and other toxic chemicals are in everything from baby shampoo to children’s jewelry and toys.

Increasingly, scientists believe that our nation’s growing rates of cancer, developmental disorders, asthma, premature birth, early puberty, childhood obesity and other health effects may be linked in part to such chemical use. No law requires manufacturers to test chemicals’ safety before their use in products. Makers of products containing known toxics are not even required to list those contents on the label.

In November, Environment Illinois released the results of a biomonitoring study which showed that the chemicals added to consumer products can end up as pollution in our bodies. The project tested 35 volunteers for contamination three types of chemicals—including bisphenol A and phthalates—in widespread use in consumer products like baby bottles, drinking straws, food cans, dental sealants and home furnishings. We found all three types of toxic chemical in every person that we tested.

As Illinois moves to protect its citizens and environment from dangerous industrial chemicals, we should focus first on protecting our most vulnerable population—our children. The Child-Safe Chemical Act (HB 5705 & SB 2868) will protect children from neurotoxic lead and eliminate bisphenol A—an estrogen-mimicking chemical linked by hundreds of studies to obesity, diabetes, thyroid disease, altered brain development and cancer—from baby bottles and children’s food containers. The Child-Safe Chemicals Act would also put Illinois on track to address the threat of the thousands of other chemicals used in commerce by establishing an expert panel to recommend further policy solutions to the Legislature.

Current laws fail to ensure that chemicals are safe for people or the environment before their use in products—even for children’s products.