Tuesday June 26th, 1:30pm Room 444 Capitol Bldg
(Sacramento) The California Assembly will hold an informational hearing to examine the effectiveness of the state’s furniture flammability standards and the environmental and health impacts of flame retardant chemicals. The hearing hosted by the Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials <http://assembly.ca.gov/dailyfile> will be Tuesday, June 26th at the California State Capitol, Room 444, 1:30 p.m. Pacific.
This is the first legislative hearing in California since the Chicago Tribune revealed the flame retardant chemical industry had used deception in testimony before the legislature in previous years. Legislatures in Alaska, Washington, and other states were given similarly deceptive information that did not represent the modern science of fire safety and health hazards from the toxic chemicals.
California’s obsolete regulation, Technical Bulletin 117 (TB 117) de facto forces toxic flame retardant chemicals into foam in products meant for sale in California. Modern science links the chemicals, which have spread all over the world, to lower IQs, learning and behavioral deficits, infertility, and cancer.
Science and health advocates seek to have TB 117 updated to comply with draft standards developed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. CPSC’s standard does not virtually force manufacturers to use toxic flame retardants in foam for their products.
Last week California Governor Jerry Brown announced he would focus attention on achieving fire safety while eliminating toxic flame retardant chemicals in products.
Witnesses at tomorrow’s hearing include:
Ana Mascareñas, Policy & Communications Director for Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles, who can address the inadequacies of toxic flame retardants in regard to TB 117, and the disproportionate impacts of chemicals on communities of color and how the flame retardant industry has sought to confuse community leaders by misrepresenting the science.
Andrew McGuire, Executive Director for the Trauma Foundation, is a burn survivor who battled Big Tobacco over fire safe cigarettes and now finds the same public relations individuals and strategies being used by the flame retardant industry to attack science and disinform the public.
Tony Stefani, President of the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation, will address how firefighters are impacted by toxic chemicals in fires.
Bryan Frieders, Battalion Chief, San Gabriel Fire Department, and Public Information Officer, the Firefighter Cancer Support Network.
Koy Wilson, Firefighter, Stockton Fire Department, and 10th District Coordinator, International Association of Fire Fighters Burn Foundation.
Sarah Janssen, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., will be attending the hearing. She is Senior Scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and reproductive health researcher at UCSF, and can explain the studies linking flame retardant chemicals to lower IQ’s, learning and behavioral deficits, infertility, and cancer.
For More Info: http://toxicfreefiresafety.org/CaliforniansForToxicFreeFireSafety.php
