The United States lags behind the European Union in instituting chemical safety checks for its citizens. Yet sound models—and sources of inspiration—do exist. The city of San Francisco, for example, showed local leadership in 2006 by instituting a citywide ban on the sale, distribution, and manufacture of baby products containing any level of bisphenol A and certain levels of phthalates.

In commenting on the prohibitions, Dr. Richard Jackson, the director of the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute at the University of Michigan and a former head of the Center for Environmental Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the San Francisco Chronicle, “We don’t want dry-cleaning solvents in our livers, lead in our brains or perchlorate in our thyroids. We certainly don’t want endocrine disrupters in breast milk and umbilical cord blood. We need to be ratcheting down these levels in people by reducing the loading of these chemicals in the environment.’’

Actions speak even louder than words as powerful as these, so make your own statement through your actions:

• Join the Collaborative on Health and the Environment. This diverse network of individuals and organizations works to advance knowledge and effective action to address growing concerns about the links between human health and environmental factors.
• Encourage Congress to support more research on the environmental causes of breast cancer. We need a national infrastructure of environmental data that’s tailored to health rather than regulation. For ideas on encouraging smart legislation to help prevent breast cancer, explore the Breast Cancer Fund’s Legislative Toolkit.
• Urge your congressional representatives to create tough legislation aimed at controlling toxic chemicals. Remind them that it’s their responsibility to assure the public’s safety. Among the initiatives we believe are critical are the Kid Safe Chemicals Act (also known as the Child, Worker and Consumer Safe Chemicals Act); funding for environmental justice grants through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; the National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals; the National Toxicology Program; and implementation of screening and testing for endocrine disruptors through EDSTAC, the Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing Advisory Committee.
• Lobby for better labeling of personal care products by participating in the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. This coalition of U.S. health and environmental nonprofit groups works to promote nontoxic personal care products. It notes a major discrepancy between the number of ingredients banned from cosmetics in the United States—10—and the European Union—more than 1,100.
• Petition for national screening to identify mutagens, carcinogens, and endocrine disruptors and support efforts to develop a proactive national chemicals policy that evaluates chemicals and substitutes. Take inspiration from REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), the European Commission’s law on the safe use of chemicals that took effect on June 1, 2007. REACH places the onus on industry to generate safety data on chemicals and to identify the measures needed to manage the risks. An excellent model within United States is the Safer Alternatives Bill in Massachusetts. Visit the Breast Cancer Fund’s website for additional ideas.
• Pressure industry to reduce or stop the use of hormone-disrupting chemicals in their products. Insist that industry leaders disclose product formulations, conduct safety testing on their products, and reformulate their products until they’re safe.
• Be a vocal consumer. Call the toll-free numbers listed on product labels to request information about harmful chemicals and to let companies know you will switch brands if the ingredients listed are not safe. Ask that your concerns be shared with the marketing department and request a written response.
• Write petitions to corporations about the products they sell. You can sign up for the PVC Action Network, for example, to participate in online consumer campaigns through the Center for Health, Environment & Justice. The center has led a successful campaign to convince Target to reduce its use of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, plastic in its infant products, children’s toys, shower curtains, packaging, and fashion accessories.
• Give your business to companies that support environmental causes. And don’t forget to let them—and their competitors—know the role that their environmental support played in your decision.
• Visit the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Action Center to learn about urgent issues needing immediate action. Lend your voice to pressing issues.
• Join a national environmental advocacy group. Increasingly, such groups are making a difference. After the Natural Resources Defense Council tested 14 air fresheners from Walgreens, for example, and found them to contain “a veritable cocktail” of chemicals, including some that have been linked to development problems in infants and breathing difficulties in adults, thousands of Walgreens stores pulled the air fresheners from their shelves. Lend your help to such efforts.
• Support the phase-out of old power plants. According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, these power plants emit three to five times as much pollution per unit as newer plants—and they do not have to meet the same emissions standards. For more information, consult the report Smart Energy Policies: Saving Money and Reducing Pollutant Emissions Through Greater Energy Efficiency.

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