March 2022 Spotlight
We hope the snow is melting and your Spring is starting off well! Below is Clean and Healthy New York's monthly newsletter to spotlight the latest science, policy developments, and media coverage that sheds light on the state of environmental health in New York, the US, and abroad.
Invest in Our Cities and Health: Prevent Lead Poisoning
Policy Director, Paul Webster, shares his outrage about lead poisoning in New York State in an Op-Ed in Sunday’s Buffalo News. Children are being used as litmus tests for homes with lead in them. Primary prevention and lead abatement needs to be prioritized before more kids suffer the lifelong effects of lead poisoning. A call to action for the governor is encouraged and necessary on this issue. Read more
Parents Exposure to Toxics is Affecting Children’s Development
An alarming 54% of pregnant women are exposed to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that could affect the development of their children, according to a new study that assessed a mixture of common types of EDCs, including bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Report authors encourage addressing chemicals as mixtures and classes. Read more
“Chemical Recycling” is Misleading and Not a Solution to Plastic Pollution
New analysis from NRDC finds that technologies marketed as “chemical recycling” (also called “advanced recycling”) don’t actually recycle plastics back into materials, but most often burn the plastic or result in fuels, releasing toxic pollutants in the process. Most of these facilities are placed in low-income or communities of color. There are many names for chemical recycling, but they all are greenwashing terms that are not the solution to the plastic waste issue. Read more
Kroger-Made Foods Were Shown to Contain Lead
The well known company Kroger is being sued by the state of California for several of its food items including pre-sliced bagels, frozen berry medley, whole wheat pasta, Crumbdillyicious Graham Crackers, and their spinach salad mix kit that was found to have high levels of lead. One of these items had levels as high as 140 times the suggested limit for adults per day under California law, and there is no known safe level of lead in our bodies. Read more
BPA Limbo - How Low Will Allowable Level Go?
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a hormone-disrupting chemical widely used in food can linings, cash register receipts, beverage contact materials and much more. It can cause a number of health issues including diabetes, diabetes, and behavior issues. Because of its potency in small amounts, European officials propose lowering the safe daily dose of bisphenol-A, or BPA, by a factor of 100,000. Just as there is no safe level of lead, there does not appear to be any safe level of BPA. Read more
Clean and Healthy New York’s Monthly Webinar Series
Join us for our next free webinar on April 19th at 7 pm: Earth Day - Action as Celebration. Register here at https://bit.ly/love_ur_earth.
You can view our previous webinars at https://chny.org/webinars. Topics include personal care products, an overview of environmental health and justice policy in 2022, the intersection of race and environmental policy, and the impact of toxics on women.
Building a just and healthy society in which toxic chemicals are unthinkable.
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