25 results for tag: toxics

Prioritizing Children’s Health in Kid’s Products

Toxic chemicals that harm health should not be in our kids' products. But they are. Thousands of chemicals lurk in products our kids use every day and children are far more vulnerable to toxics than adults due to their smaller size and developing organs. Even worse, the most recent studies show that new chemical compounds are produced at a rate of 10 million per year, which translates to nearly 1,000 new chemicals synthesized every hour. In 2015, OEC led the advocacy work to pass the historic Toxic Free Kids Act (TFKA), requiring manufacturers of children’s products to disclose — and eventually phase out — the worst chemicals of concern for ...

Personal Care Products Should Not Be Toxic

Updated on January 23, 2023 Consumers want to believe that their favorite brands of makeup, toiletries, and other personal care products are safe. But in reality, most of these products contain unregulated chemicals known to be toxic when ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. It is estimated that there are over 10,000 chemicals in the beauty market today. OEC conducted a survey amongst university women in 2011 (“What’s in My Makeup Bag?”) and concluded that, at that time, the average woman in Oregon was using about 10 different products a day. Unfortunately, due to beauty standards in the age of social media, that number has only ...

UPDATE: Victory! Judge dismisses Oregon Toxic Free Kids Act Litigation

As we reported at the start of the new year (see below), American Apparel, the Toy Association, and its member coalition- Safe to Play, had filed a lawsuit during the week of Christmas, claiming that Oregon’s Toxic Free Kids Act (TFKA) is preempted based on the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) and Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). Thankfully earlier this summer, the federal district court in Portland, Oregon dismissed the toy industry's lawsuit. Specifically, Judge Simon held that at least 69 chemicals regulated in Oregon’s Toxic Free Kids Act are not even addressed in the federal statutes. Therefore, the Toxic Free Kids Act is not ...

Grinchlike behavior: Toy Association delivers lawsuit against safer toys just in time for the New Year

In one of the most Grinch-like moves of 2021, American Apparel, the Toy Association, and its member coalition- Safe to Play, filed a lawsuit during the week of Christmas, in an effort to ensure that they can continue delivering toxic toys to Oregon kids.  They claim that the final rules of Oregon’s Toxic Free Kids Act (TFKA) is preempted based on the  Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) and Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), and that compliance with phaseouts, especially if they have to pay the fees to apply for waivers, will cause them “irreparable harm.” This move came six and a half years after TFKA was enacted, and over 9 months ...

We’ve Got Receipts! Retailers Respond to Consumer Demands for Safer Shopping

The 5th annual Mind the Store Report Card provides evidence of success; retailers are responding to consumer demands; Wendy’s announces the phaseout of PFAS in food packaging.

If Our Government Won’t Regulate Toxic Chemicals, It Is Up to Consumer Behavior and Retailers to Drive Change

New Report Reveals Top Retailers Making Major Chemical Safety Advances A new report released this week by Oregon Environmental Council’s partner Safer Chemicals Healthy Families reveals that many of our nation’s top retailers are voluntarily embracing safer chemical policies to help protect consumers from hazardous chemicals in products.  The fourth annual Who’s Minding the Store? A Report Card on Retailer Actions to Eliminate Toxic Chemicals evaluated and graded the chemical policies and practices of 43 retail chains ranging from Starbucks to Lowes, with more than 190,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada, as part of Safer Chemicals Healthy ...

Tell McDonald’s: Time to Take off the Toxic Gloves

With great market power comes great responsibility for customers' health. This summer Oregon Environmental Council helped gather samples for a research report that finds that some vinyl, or PVC, food service gloves contain toxic chemicals called phthalates (THAL-eights) that can leach into food—and some gloves from McDonald’s tested positive for these harmful chemicals. We’re joining with our partner groups across the nation in calling on McDonald’s, the top restaurant in the U.S., to be a market leader and switch away from using PVC gloves—the only way to ensure that food service gloves won’t contaminate diners’ meals with toxic ...

Oregon Health Authority Wrestles With Commitment to Transparency

At the most recent meeting of the Toxic Free Kids Act Rules Advisory Committee the chemical industry publicly admitted that many chemicals in kids’ products may lack key data on their safety. This sort of disregard for product safety and transparency is sadly a routine page out of the chemical industry's playbook.  The issue of transparency was another hot topic during the most recent rules meeting. While it's a common move for industry associations and manufacturers to refuse to provide transparency on chemical ingredients and safety assessments, it's less common to see it from state agencies.  The heart of the matter under consideration by ...

Protect Oregon’s drinking water from toxic PFAS: Ask Congressman Walden to designate PFAS as a “hazardous chemical”

Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a category of hazardous chemicals that are currently designated as “contaminants” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  To protect human health, Congress must designate PFAS as hazardous chemicals, which will speed up the identification, cleanup and monitoring of PFAS contaminated sites under federal Superfund law. What are PFAS and why should you be concerned? PFAS are a group of 47,000 synthetic chemicals that are known as ‘forever chemicals’ due to their persistent nature in the environment. They easily move through air and soil and contaminate clean water sources, and because ...

Plastic Un-fantastic

The toxic effects of plastics pollution on human health —Belinda McFadgen, for OEC In early March of 2019, a Cuvier’s beaked whale washed up dead in the Philippines. The whale had died of gastric shock, brought on by the 88 lbs. of plastic bags found in its stomach. The sheer volume of plastic waste and its brutal impact on marine wildlife is shocking. But just as disturbing is the emerging story of how the toxicity of plastic pollution is affecting human health and the health of the planet as a whole. A growing understanding of toxic effects More than twenty years ago, a health hazard from widespread plastic use made headlines. In 1993, ...