Photo Courtesy of Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato’s Office
Pheffer Amato said the proposed law helps parents “make informed decisions about the items they are purchasing for their family.”
By Forum Staff
Legislation aimed at protecting children from toxic exposure by allowing the State Department of Environmental Conversation to regulate, and in cases of significant public health concern, ban the use of some dangerous chemicals in children’s products, is making its way through the Assembly, according to Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Howard Beach), a co-sponsor of the bill.
The proposed law amends the Environmental Conservation Law to better regulate the use of toxic chemicals in children’s products and establishes an infrastructure within State government to categorize chemicals of concerns along with requiring disclosures by children’s products manufacturers as to whether their products contain chemicals of concern.
According to Pheffer Amato, a 2005 study of industrial chemicals conducted by the nonprofit research-based organization Environmental Working Group detected 287 chemicals and pollutants in umbilical cord blood, 180 of which cause cancer, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests.
The assemblywoman praised the bill for allowing “parents to make informed decisions about the items they are purchasing for their family.”
“As a mother of two, I deeply feel the stakes of getting this issue right because so many toxic chemicals are used to make children’s products without any sort of restriction,” said Pheffer Amato, chairwoman of the Assembly Subcommittee on Child Safety.
