Rally for Fire Safety Without Toxics

The fire retardant industry is holding a conference at the Hyatt on Union Square this week. These are the same companies that are spending millions of dollars for media and lobbying to oppose AB706, which bans toxic fire retardants in furniture, but failing to do research to provide health data about their toxic products.

You are invited join a rally for “Fire Safety without Toxics” on Wed. Oct 10th. Friends of the Earth, MOMS (Make our Milk Safe), MomsRising members, and SF firefighters are rallying outside the SF Hyatt on Union Square at 11 AM and singing about the dangers of brominated and chlorinated chemicals once again.

Assemblymember Mark Leno will speak; MomsRising member Mable Yee will be bringing the MomsRising No Toxics on my Child ONEsie display. Please join them And please bring along your friends. The more people the press see the better they will understand just how seriously people are taking this issue.

During the summer thousands of supporters wrote and called CA legislators to support AB 706. The bill did not pass this year, but a rally outside Sen. Perata’s office elicited a promise to pass AB 706 out of committee and saved this vital bill for next year.. California must not continue to poison our kids and the rest of the world because of our unique requirement for fire retardants in furniture foam with no restrictions on the toxicity of those fire retardants.

This autumn we need to create broad public understanding about the dangers of toxic chemicals in our furniture that migrate into our bodies and those of our children. Come help draw public attention and help the health of our children and planet.

P.S. You can also read more and comment on this issue on the Huffington Post, in the Killer Couch Chemicals blog, by clicking here: < http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=-1&url_num=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Farlene-blum%2Fkiller-couch-chemicals_b_60754.html>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arlene-blum/killer-couch-chemicals_b_60754.html

P.P.S. California furniture manufacturers are required to use potentially toxic chemicals which are bad for children, and are being found in the milk of breastfeeding mothers–the very same chemicals that were removed from children’s sleepwear thirty years ago! All this in the name of fire retardancy which can be achieved without toxic chemicals. Now the chemical industry wants to put similar chemicals in bedding and pillows as well.

p.p.s. TOXIC FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
* The chemical Chlorinated Tris was removed from children’s sleepwear 30 years ago after it was determined to be a mutagen.
* Today, chlorinated tris is the second most-used fire retardant in furniture, and was recently deemed by the consumer product safety commission to be “a probable human carcinogen based on sufficient evidence in animals.”
* Since the 1970s, PBDEs (brominated fire retardants) have increased 40-fold in human breast milk. PBDEs have the potential to disrupt thyroid hormone balance and contribute to a variety of neurological and developmental deficits, including low intelligence and learning disabilities. Women in North America have, on average, ten times to forty times the levels PBDEs in their breast milk as do women in Europe or Asia.
* We can prevent fires without poisoning our families. Equally effective and affordable methods are available right now. Alternatives include naturally flame resistant materials like wool, metals, and woods, inherently flame resistant barriers, and alternatives including silicon, boric acid, and phosphates

Arlene Blum, PhD
arlene@arleneblum.com
Research Associate in Chemistry, UC Berkeley
Executive Director, Green Science Policy Institute
Office Telephone: 510 898 1704 or 510 898 1739    Mobile: 510 919-6363
Web: www .GreenSciencePolicy .org, www.arleneblum.com

Please check out our short Six Classes videos and learn how to select healthier products.