Not My Breasts

Congress Talks Phthalates

An important piece of legislation is moving through Congress that would ban toxic phthalates from children’s toys and childcare articles. Phthalates (pronounced “THA-lates”) are chemicals used in many soft, plastic toys like rubber ducks, teething rings and bath books that can leech out of these toys when children chew on them. Scientists have linked phthalates to early onset of puberty in girls (a risk factor for breast cancer) and birth defects in baby boys. Safe alternatives exist. So, it would seem like a no-brainer that Congress would pass this legislation, right?

We hope so.

Right now, a small, bi-partisan Congressional Conference Committee made up of members of the Senate and House is finalizing the legislation—known as the Consumer Product Safety bill. Their job is to reconcile the Senate version of the legislation—which includes a ban toxic phthalates from children’s toys and childcare articles—and the House version—which does not. The House members have a historic opportunity here to support their colleagues in the Senate and vote to include the phthalates ban and, in so doing, protect all kids from these dangerous chemicals.

Enacting this ban on phthalates in kids’ toys is far from a radical move. California and Washington State have already enacted the ban, as has the European Union and 14 other countries. So isn’t it time our U.S. Congress do the same? If you agree, tell them.

FEMA Formaldehyde Cover-up Alleged

FEMA is under pressure again, this time from the House Homeland Security Committee, over an alleged cover-up of formaldehyde exposure from trailers provided to hurricane survivors.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita set down on U.S. soil in August 2005, displacing hundreds of thousands of people. Two and half years later, FEMA says 40,000 families are still living in "temporary" FEMA travel trailers.

From the beginning, trailer occupants complained of fumes and classic symptoms of over-exposure to formaldehyde: headache, chronic nosebleeds, asthma, bronchitis and sinus infections. It turned out that these government-provided trailers were off-gassing toxic levels of formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde, used as a preservative in plywood and other construction materials, is a known carcinogen. So when it came to light that FEMA continued to distribute the toxic trailers to families even after they knew of the formaldehyde issue, the Breast Cancer Fund asked its supporters to write letters to President Bush in August 2007. Our ask then: an executive order to FEMA to stop distributing the tainted trailers and replace those already in use with formaldehyde-free trailers.

Now, FEMA stands accused of stifling the release of information that formaldehyde in the trailers could be harmful, and of ignoring a CDC recommendation that the trailers were for temporary use only, not to be lived in.

Our hope now: that FEMA comes clean about formaldehyde exposure and moves all 40,000 families out of trailers and into safe, toxin-free environments.

Said Rep. Nick Lampson, who is asking for more information from FEMA and CDC: "Not following good science in advising people to do things as they try to recover from one tragedy is indeed a much greater tragedy this is compounding."

We won on toxic toys!

A 25-foot inflatable ducky outside San Francisco's City Hall captured the attention of media (and passersby, including a flock of tourists) at an October 10 press conference with co-sponsors the Breast Cancer Fund and Environment California, and author California state Assemblywoman Fiona Ma. We were there to help sway Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign the Toxic Toys bill, AB 1108, into law. And then we crossed our fingers. This was not a bill the chemical industry wanted to see signed.

Crossed fingers unfurled to cheers and applause late Sunday when it was announced that the governor had signed our bill into law. Starting in January 2009, toys and children's products like bath books and teethers - all those things that little kids suck and chew on - sold in California may not contain chemical plasticizers called phthalates. Phthalates make plastic soft (and chew-friendly), but they also disrupt the delicate hormonal dance in people - especially developing children. Phthalates have been linked to early puberty (a risk factor for breast cancer), genital abnormalities in baby boys, testicular cancer and liver problems.

The best news: this law protects more than just California's children. Several other states are interested in replicating the California Toxic Toys bill, and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein wants to take it to the national level. Because, as Breast Cancer Fund state policy coordinator Gretchen Lee put it in the San Francisco Chronicle, "phthalates are a problem no matter where you live."

Read more from the Chronicle and USA Today.

Step awaaaay from the duck

Today the Breast Cancer Fund and our allies organized a press conference in the governor's press room in the state Capitol to urge Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign the toxic toys bill, AB 1108. The bill, which would ban dangerous chemicals from children’s toys, was passed by the state Legislature and has landed on the governor’s desk for his signature or veto.

Along with our colleagues at Environment California, we brought 1,000 rubber duckies to the state Capitol, along with concerned parents, their children, and teen activists concerned about toy safety. Most of the major networks showed up, as they did last week in Los Angeles for evening news coverage of our fight to ban these harmful chemicals. We worked with pediatrician Harvey Karp, who spoke at our Los Angeles event, to place an opinion column in the LA Times today urging the governor to sign the bill.

Meanwhile, the chemical industry is dumping a ton of money into ads opposing the bill. They ran a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times opposing the bill, and this week they are running ads on CNN and MSNBC. We could use your help in this fight: you can take action by faxing the governor and you can make a donation to the Breast Cancer Fund to support our work to make families and communities safe from chemicals linked to breast cancer.

In the last few weeks, millions of toys worldwide have been recalled by Mattel and its subsidiary Fisher-Price after alarming levels of lead were found in them. "But toys with harmful chemicals can still be found on store shelves throughout Californiaand the rest of the country," said Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, sponsor of the bill.

Once signed, AB 1108 will require all child care products and toys sold in California for children to be free of chemicals called phthalates. Scientists worldwide have linked phthalates (pronounced "THA-lates") to lowered sperm counts, early onset of puberty, testicular cancer and liver problems. These chemicals are found in rubber duckies, teething rings, bath books and other soft plastic toys and can leech out of these toys when children suck or chew on them.