AHT Blog Archives

Why the U.S. is losing the fight to ban toxic chemicals On December 14, 2022, expert environmental reporters at ProPublica wrote this excellent analysis on the state of chemical regulation in the United States.  This is a must-read article for anyone who cares about public health! Read full story at: https://www.propublica.org/article/toxic-chemicals-epa-regulation-failures

On July 28, 2022, WBUR’s Barbara Moran reported on a new National Academies of Science study that recommends blood tests and medical monitoring for people likely to have high exposure to the toxic chemicals known as PFAS. The report describes the link between blood levels of PFAS and certain illnesses. According to Moran,   It concludes there is now “sufficient evidence” of association between PFAS exposure and kidney cancer in adults, decreased infant and fetal growth, decreased immune response, and…

New Washington state bill is the “fastest timeline in the nation” for phasing out PFAS Washington State has passed a new state bill that authorizes state administrators to take steps to ban PFAS in clothing, non-stick pans, cosmetics, cleaning products, and firefighter gear by 2025 In an April 27, 2022 story, Environmental Health News quotes Liz Berry, bill sponsor, who says she filed the bill after  reading about a 2021 study on PFAS in breast milk.  The study of 50…

Clean Water Action and Toxic Free Futures, two partners in the Mind the Store campaign, recently announced that Burger King had decided to remove all PFAS from its food packaging by 2025 at https://cleanwater.org/releases/burger-king-announces-global-ban-toxic-forever-chemicals-food-packaging

If you are in climate circles, you might be familiar with Daikin America.  The company produces refrigerants and air source heat pumps.  Their logo often appears in the list of corporations supporting major climate conferences, and the company emphasizes its commitment to sustainability. On September 16, 2021, Toxic Free Future released a new report, showing another side of the company’s operations. Daikin manufacture PFAS for food packaging.  PFAS coating prevents wet and fatty food from soaking through paper-based food containers.…

In May 21, 2021, Sierra Club and the Ecology Center tested fertilizer products made from sewage sludge, and found that all contained toxic PFAS, despite several brands being marketed as “eco” or “natural.” Read the report at: https://www.sierraclub.org/sludge-garden-toxic-pfas-home-fertilizers-made-sewage-sludge    

Sonya Lunder is a scientist and toxics advisor for Sierra Club. She is also a mother.  Read her terrific Ms Magazine editorial, on her reaction to a recent studying finding PFAS in the breast milk of 100% of breastfeeding mothers (50 mothers tested in Seattle). The Infuriating Case of Toxic Chemicals in Breast Milk

  May 11, 2021, Vermont Public Interest Research Group: “Today, the Vermont Legislature gave final approval to a nation-leading bill that would restrict the sale of consumer products that contain toxic chemicals known as PFAS. The bill now heads to the Governor for his signature. The Vermont Public Interest Research Group, Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), and Vermont Conservation Voters released the following statements in response. “The legislature has taken a major step forward to protect communities and firefighters from toxic forever…

TJX just announced a new chemical policy.  The store will eliminate bisphenols from cash register receipts and ensure that all its compostable foodware in its corporate cafeterias is PFAS-free.  They are engaging chemical policy experts to help them identify ways to get toxic chemicals out of the products they sell.  We applaud TJX for moving forward on safety! https://iehn.org/resources/entry/tjx-announces-new-restrictions-on-toxic-chemicals

On Aug 6, 2020, CNN covered the findings of a recent report on PFAS in food packaging.  The Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families report, “Packaged in Pollution: Are food chains using PFAS in packaging?,” found toxic PFAS in food packaging at Burger King, Wendy’s and McDonalds. “As the largest fast-food chain in the world, McDonald’s has a responsibility to its customers to keep them safe. These dangerous chemicals don’t belong in its food packaging. I, for one, am NOT ‘lovin’ it,’”…

The cost of cleaning up PFAS contamination is enormous.  Massachusetts Senator Jo Comerford (D-Northampton) and Senator Michael Moore (D-Uxbridge) have sent a letter to Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, asking her to do what other state attorney generals have done: Take legal action to require the corporations that made billions polluting our state to take responsibility for PFAS contamination. https://www.auburnmassdaily.com/archives/35617

by Stephen Hume, Vancouver Sun, May 15, 2020 Flame retardants routinely added to common household products are killing firefighters, putting children and pregnant women at risk and contaminating the environment while not significantly improving safety, says a new report.Raising the Alarm: The Case for Better Flame Retardant Regulation in Canada was prepared by the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre for Local 730 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, which represents firefighters at the Victoria Fire Department. It surveyed…

That’s why Clean Water Action and the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow delivered 433 letters to Governor Charlie Baker on Feb 14, 2020.   Our message: Sign the Act to Protect Children, Families and Firefighters!  It’s time to ban toxic flame retardants! Over a year ago, Baker vetoed a bill to ban 11 toxic flame retardants from upholstered furniture,  children’s products, mattresses, carpeting, bedding, and window treatments. So, when the legislative session started up again, our champions Representative Decker and Cynthia…

https://saferchemicals.org/2019/10/31/staples-launches-new-policy-to-drive-toxic-chemicals-out-of-office-supplies-electronics-textiles-and-other-products/

WBUR’s Senior Enviromental Reporter Barbara Moran explains what you need to know about PFAS, a class of thousands of chemicals that are ubiquitous in the environment and harmful in very small quantities.  Read WBUR’s article on PFAS.  

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority has been selling its sludge for the past 30 years, piping biosolids to a Quincy wastewater treatment plant that dries out the slurry and packages it into bags of Bay State Fertilizer.  MWRA sells and donates this fertilizer to farms, golf courses, and other properties throughout New England. On December 1, 2019, The Boston Globe reported that MWRA tests, conducted last March, found PFAS chemicals in sludge at levels of 18,000 per trillion. PFAS chemicals…

If you are sipping coffee at Starbucks, nibbling on McNuggets, or picking up a sweaters at Marshall’s, you are shopping at one of the retailers that earned an “F” in Mind the Store’s recently released 2019 Retailer Report Card. Fourteen brands earned this grade for their failure to make even the most basic commitments to removing toxic chemicals from their products and packaging.  This is the 4th year the Mind the Store has released its report card, which evaluates store…

Congratulations to our colleagues at Clean Water Action Minnesota and to Minnesota fire fighters for passing Minnesota’s ban on toxic flame retardants in furniture, mattresses and children’s products. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/05/23/flame-retardant-ban-becomes-state-law

Minnesota firefighters don’t like toxic flame retardants any more than Massachusetts firefighters.   That’s why Minnesota firefighters are working with a Republican Senator Jeff Howe, a former fire-figther, to get toxic flame retardants out of children’s products. The arguments in Minnesota may sound familiar.  Firefighters say that flame retardants don’t slow the spread of fire.  They become more toxic when burned.  Read more here.  

Simmons University Engages Students in Talks about Toxics MARCH 19, 2019 By Delaney Gagnon – Massachusetts Communications Intern Clean Water Action Share I’ve learned a lot about the dangers of exposure to toxic chemicals through flame retardants at Clean Water Action. They’re everywhere in our homes: in mattresses, furniture, even children’s toys. This is a really important issue to be aware of, but there is a real lack of awareness amongst my fellow college students. My school, Simmons University, offers a…

Have you ever walked into a dry cleaner and been bothered by the smell? Your nose knows: that unpleasant aroma could actually be toxic. For the last fifty years, dry cleaners have used perchloroethylene (perc) as their most common cleaning product. Perc is a probable human carcinogen that can cause nervous system, liver, and kidney damage. Dry cleaning workers are at most risk, but when we take dry cleaned clothes home, we expose our families to this toxic chemical as…

by Sara Moffett, Western Massachusetts Organizer People often ask me, “What do you like best about working for Clean Water Action,” and my answer is always the same: the people. For me, the most rewarding aspect of my job is connecting with folks on the diverse experiences that drive our efforts for progressive change. We all suffer the impacts of environmental degradation (some more profoundly than others), and we all have unique stories to share. Whether incensing, inspiring, or downright…

It was an unseasonably warm November day when I sat down in my political ecology class at Northeastern University. My professor, Danny Faber, an environmental justice champion in the Boston area, was showing us a film called “Toxic Hot Seat.” The topic seemed mundane: flame-retardants. But after sitting through the compelling and borderline shocking documentary, I was outraged. I had just watched a step-by-step breakdown about how flame-retardants, chemicals that are supposed to protect us from essentially bursting into flames,…

“Dear Retail Stores, Listen up!” urges 11-year-old Sophie Alcindor. After learning about the dangers of toxic ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products at her after school program, Sophie decided to take action. In a letter addressed to major retailers, she expressed her desire for change: “We all get it that you want to make money, but are [sic] this neck to neck competition really worth it. Can customers walk in and feel safe without having to feast valuable hours just…

Laura Henze Russell is a member of the Massachusetts delegation to the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families’ Stroller Brigade for Safe Chemicals in Washington DC. Laura grew up on Long Island, New York. The horror of cancer hit home early for Laura when one of her friends lost her mother to the disease in high school. Unfortunately it didn’t stop there.  Over time, the the majority of her friends from the neighborhood, and their mothers, have contracted breast cancer. Cancer hit…

Gail MCCormick is a member of the Massachusetts delegation to the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families’ Stroller Brigade for Safe Chemicals in Washington DC. Gail is a mother of two, a grandmother of three, and a dedicated activist. Though she’s lived in 12 different states in her lifetime, she’s lived in Massachusetts for 17 years and currently calls Arlington home. When her children were young, Gail’s family went through a harrowing experience of toxic chemical exposure that opened her eyes to…

By Cindy Luppi, New England Director, Clean Water Action April is here and for many, the top thing on our minds is the early days of spring–whether we can shelve our winter coats, maybe how close we are to Opening Day. For me, April always reminds me of my grandmother, Aubine. She was born in early April, over 100 years ago in a small town in northern Maine. When I think of her, I think of the popcorn balls she…

By Margo Simon Golden, MPH We have all been touched by cancer.  I was in my thirties, married for nine months, and diagnosed with breast cancer.   Four years later, now ten years ago, my breast cancer metastasized to my lungs.  I am grateful and thankful to all the dedicated men and women, past and present, in all capacities, who helped to develop treatment options and hope that I never run out of options.   I also support  the common sense approach…

By Katherine Friedrich, Based on an interview with Pat Smith Pat Smith had over 30 years of experience as a registered nurse. She’d been working in the same office for five years. She was used to her routine at work and at home. Since she believed products had to smell good to be clean, she used perfumed lotions, scented shampoo, dryer sheets and commercial detergent. When Pat noticed a musty smell in the carpet near her desk at work one…

By Linda Thomas – correspondent for the Medfield Press. Reprinted with permission from the Medfield Press. Cheryl Durr Patry watched as her infant son’s skin turned red. It was dry, itchy and scaly – how his little nails tried to tear it up as he cried. He was borderline colicky, she said. She tried over-the-counter creams and salves, and eliminated different foods from his diet. Then, one day, he sneezed 15 times in succession while sitting on a table she…

By Laura Spark, activist and mother I’d like to keep my kids safe.  But, 8 years ago, I used plastic sippy cups that are now being removed from the market.   I bathed my daughters in  Johnson and Johnson soaps that I thought were “pure and natural” because the label said they were.   After I read about low levels of 1-4 dioxane, a carcinogen, in Johnson and Johnson baby soap, I  I tried shifting to “natural” baby products–only to realize,  months…

By Katherine Friedrich Communications volunteer for The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow I’m ending a three-year relationship with my water bottle. We were very close for a while. But it became clear that our relationship was based on appearances, not on honesty. My water bottle’s transparent façade concealed an unnerving secret. I bought this cute yellow bottle while I was losing weight. I’ve lost 40 pounds in the past three years by making long-term lifestyle changes. Along the way, I…

You are not alone. Take comfort (and discomfort) in the fact that you share this problem with the vast majority of Americans. We’re not talking about your passive aggressive sister-in-law, or the charming so-and-so who swept you off your feet and then left town with your life savings. We are are referring to the fresh-smelling, easy-going, and utterly irresistible toxic products we spend our time with at home, at work, and everywhere we go. Bobbi Chase Wilding, from New York,…

by Elizabeth Saunders, Legislative Director for Clean Water Action My housemates and I have had some toxic relationships.  No, I don’t mean with each other, we get along great.  But there have been times when some of the products that we have used have been exposing us to more toxic chemicals than I like to admit. As an environmental activist whose job is to fight to get toxic chemicals out of our everyday products, I’m more careful than most about…

Earlier this year, we started a new blog series to share some stories of advocates in our toxics and environmental health campaigns. We’ feature their bios, including what they do, how they got involved, and why this work so important to them. We hope this will help show a personal side to the many faces representing the coalition. If you’re interested in sharing your story, please contact us at info@healthytomorrow.org. Today’s story comes from Mimi Pomerleau, who became involved with the…

Today we’re starting a new blog series to share some stories of advocates in our toxics and environmental health campaigns. We’re going to feature their bios, including what they do, how they got involved, and why this work so important to them. We hope this will help show a personal side to the many faces representing the coalition. If you’re interested in sharing your story, please contact us at info@healthytomorrow.org. Our first story comes from Steve Gauthier, who has been…

On a hot and muggy morning in late June, a dynamic assembly of environmentalists, parents, firefighters, worker’s health advocates, and others piled into Hearing Room 222 of the Massachusetts State House. The issue that brought all these folks together: toxic flame retardants in kid’s products and household furniture. Flame retardant chemicals have been flying under the radar for decades. Parents, medical professionals, health advocates, legislators, and others tried to nip the flame retardants issue in the bud during the 70’s…