Health care providers and chemical companies have reached a meeting of the minds over the need for tougher regulations for and closer oversight of toxic and potentially dangerous substances used in products such as baby bottles and children’s toys. The American Academy of Pediatrics took a lead role in this effort on April 25, 2011, when the doctors’ group announced the publication of a new policy statement titled “Chemical-Management Policy: Prioritizing Children’s Health.”
In a press release announcing its new policy, the AAP wrote that “the current system fails to protect children and pregnant women, who are most vulnerable to hazardous chemical exposures.” The group of health care providers pointed specifically to the lack of authority for the Environmental Protection Agency and other national watchdogs to take action against chemicals and chemical manufacturers as soon as health problems become apparent.
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Calls for revisions, expansions and strengthenings of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 have also come from the leading industry group the American Chemistry Council and doctors, nurses and public health advocates. As a personal injury attorney who has repreented injured ckids and pregnant women in Virginia Beach, VA, anda as mother of a young daughter myself, I’ll add my voice to this campaign to prevent toxic, even deadly, substances from entering or remaining on the U.S. market.
With all the well-recognized — but distressingly persistent — risks babies, infants, toddlers, adolescents and teens face from products made with lead, cadmium and BPA (bispnenol-A), regulators need to play a greater role in identifying and eliminating additional dangers from newer chemicals.
EJL