The soil underneath a local soccer field. The river that runs through the center of your town or city. The air circulating above a factory or industrial complex. All are important components of our communities—and all are extremely vulnerable to toxic contamination. Toxics are prevalent in our lives; they are in the products we use, the water we drink and the air we breathe. We have a right to live in a healthy environment, which sustains life and protects us from unnecessary harms. Unfortunately, flaws in current practice and policy allow toxic chemicals to pervade our environment causing serious harm to our health and environment.  We must correct those flaws and make the protection of our health and the health of our environment must be the first priority of government policy and regulation.

The Safer Alternatives campaign focuses on substitution, highlighting what can be done to make our lives safer, instead of what cannot. The reduction and replacement of chemicals with known safer alternatives should occur alongside risk, needs and alternative assessments of chemicals currently without known alternatives.

There is simply no excuse, rationalization or justification adequate to allow our neighborhoods and bodies to become polluted by toxic chemicals. That’s why we’re fighting to make sure our environment is safe, healthy and secure.

An Act for a Healthy Massachusetts: Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals

Representative Jay Kaufman and Senator Steven Tolman (HB 783 & SB 558)

This bill:

• Highlights ten priority toxic chemicals used in common goods and services, are potential contributors to the incidence of cancer, asthma, birth defects, reproductive disorders, or learning disabilities, and that have reasonable and safer alternatives that in some cases are already used by industry.
• Requires Massachusetts industries to replace ten priority toxic chemicals with readily available, proven alternatives.
• Establishes the first step of eliminating toxic chemicals by outlining a process through which chemicals can be evaluated and enforceable plans created to reduce or eliminate their use through substitution.

To view a fact sheet about the bill, click here.