Thursday, May 16, 2013

Think Those Chemicals Have Been Tested?

Dear Friends,
"Think those chemicals have been tested?" So started a recent article in a national newspaper. When it comes to the chemicals in dozens of products we use every day, the answer is "No." Tens of thousands of chemicals remain in everyday products, such as cleaners, food containers, furniture and even children's products without being tested for safety. Under current law, the EPA can call for safety testing only after evidence surfaces demonstrating a chemical is dangerous. As a result, the EPA has only been able to require testing for roughly 200 of more than 84,000 chemicals currently registered in the United States.
Can we do anything? Senators Gillibrand (D-NY) and  Lautenberg (D-NJ) have introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2013. They need the help of people of faith to move it out of the Environmental and Public Works Committee. Please consider signing GreenFaith's petition urging Senator Boxer (D-CA), chair of the committee, to move the bill out of the committee without amendment.
The Safe Chemicals Act of 2013 would give the EPA the tools it needs to collect health and safety information, screen chemicals for safety, and require risk management when chemicals cannot be proven safe. Click here to learn more about the Safe Chemicals Act and why its important.

As people of faith, we are called to care about God's Creation. These chemicals may be harmful to the earth, and to humans, we do not know. What we do know is that the CDC has found more than 212 industrial chemicals in American's bodies, and that babies are born with chemicals already present in their bodies. Paul says the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Americans' bodies are temples full of chemicals.
Please sign the petition today. Or call your Senators and see if they have signed on as a co-sponsor to the bill, and if not, urge them to. It is important to the future of God's Creation.

Holy One, so many of the people we have sent to Washington to represent us work diligently on behalf of our earth and its inhabitants.  We ask blessings on them as they work through overwhelming amounts of information and misinformation.  Give them vision and strength and give us the wisdom to support them as they seek understanding and take action.
Sue Smith
PEC Treasurer

1 comment:

  1. Not a comment, but a question, because I see two PEC concerns coming into potential collision here. What kind of testing is being promoted? I'm concerned about testing which involves animals unless it can be shown that the results would indeed apply equally to humans and that the testing is done in a truly humane way with easy access for inspectors. PEC has concerns for the entire creation, earth and earthlings as well - both human and non-human earthlings.