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Old 04-28-2010, 07:39 AM
 
3,650 posts, read 9,186,553 times
Reputation: 2787

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Reply from a Congressman to someone else that was forwarded to me - wow - what the - ??

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I believe we must protect families and children from unsafe products. That's why I supported the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act (Public Law 110-314). This law strengthens the consumer protection laws that affect Americans every day. It holds manufacturers accountable, improves inspections, and tracks what comes into the country from abroad.

Yet more needs to be done to protect people from dangerous chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reviewed the human health risks of only a small percentage of chemicals. Manufacturers of most chemical substances are not required under current law to supply human or environmental toxicity information before selling their products to the public.


I appreciate learning of your support for the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010 (S. 3209). This legislation would provide the EPA with sufficient information to judge a chemical's safety and require manufactures to provide more information about the environmental toxicity of their products. S. 3209 is currently pending before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. I will keep your comments in mind should this legislation come before the full Senate.
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Old 04-28-2010, 08:20 AM
 
Location: In transit...
377 posts, read 874,979 times
Reputation: 275
Oh yeah, it's the same old story, and just like "Truth in labeling" (requiring to label food products containing GMO), it never gets anywhere because of the big corporation's lawyers and lobbies. The mighty dollar rules everything. People are just collateral damage on the way to the big buck.
Best of luck (honestly) to the Congressman trying to pass such legislation.

There is a great article in one of the latest "Time" magazines, called "The perills of plastic" I believe. Very informative (and very scary).
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Old 04-28-2010, 10:59 AM
 
23,527 posts, read 69,942,587 times
Reputation: 48910
Whatever. Water was toxic to every person that ever drowned. Steel is toxic to everyone stabbed by a knife made out of it. Galvanized metal can kill if heated. Nanny state laws remove freedoms, including the freedom to be stupid and kill yourself.
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Old 04-28-2010, 11:39 AM
 
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
2,901 posts, read 12,694,109 times
Reputation: 1843
Quote:
Originally Posted by harry chickpea View Post
Whatever. Water was toxic to every person that ever drowned. Steel is toxic to everyone stabbed by a knife made out of it. Galvanized metal can kill if heated. Nanny state laws remove freedoms, including the freedom to be stupid and kill yourself.
You're letting the "powers that be" off way too easily.
The scales are tipped in favor of the dominant culture and the institutions that benefit from people remaining ignorant.
It's not an even playing field and also, there are millions of children (who speaks for them?) who don't have a voice ... who have no power and who are adversely affected (that's putting it lightly) by the power mongers / money mongers ... by those who are so jaded by greed that they value money and power over life.
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Old 05-03-2010, 08:37 PM
 
Location: Washington D.C.
345 posts, read 1,637,153 times
Reputation: 266
Quote:
Originally Posted by harry chickpea View Post
Whatever. Water was toxic to every person that ever drowned. Steel is toxic to everyone stabbed by a knife made out of it. Galvanized metal can kill if heated. Nanny state laws remove freedoms, including the freedom to be stupid and kill yourself.

Soooo... if you're stupid enough to try to weld galvanized steel, you deserve to die ? REALLY ???

Everyone has an area of knowledge. Some know more than others about chemicals. Some know more about skeet shooting.
Just because someone is focusing their attention on raising children or holding onto a job, they shouldn't have to get sick or die because they never learned not to mix ammonia with chlorine or not to have toluene base candles burning in the bedroom.

It's one thing when the government doesn't tell us things but the FDA and the EPA goes out of their way to cover up very important facts that would render a much healthier society in order to help the chemical companies make money and not get sued for manufacturing deadly products.
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Old 05-05-2010, 05:24 AM
 
Location: Way South of the Volvo Line
2,788 posts, read 7,984,468 times
Reputation: 2845
My husband had an encounter with a potentially hazardous construction material years ago. the material was a powdered concrete curing additive that apparently came from Russia. He was treated and released for exposure and never provided with the pertinent details of this chemical. We tried after the fact to get more info but the company was bought out, he was laid off and no one would speak to us "without a lawyer", which we couldn't afford. To this day we have no way of knowing if this incident could still impact his health.
All potentially harmful chemicals should at the very least be labeled with their components for the consumers right to know. Even the most complicated chemical descriptions can be researched by the layman for possible personal impact.
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Old 05-05-2010, 05:50 AM
 
Location: Bradenton, Florida
27,232 posts, read 46,514,542 times
Reputation: 11081
MSDS. Material Safety Data Sheets. It's surprising that they aren't included with every chemical, but most would throw them away anyway.

In my experience, most chemicals already have common sense advisements. "Not for internal use.", "Do not get in eyes or on skin."
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Old 05-05-2010, 06:01 AM
 
Location: A little suburb of Houston
3,702 posts, read 18,154,336 times
Reputation: 2090
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcrackly View Post
My husband had an encounter with a potentially hazardous construction material years ago. the material was a powdered concrete curing additive that apparently came from Russia. He was treated and released for exposure and never provided with the pertinent details of this chemical. We tried after the fact to get more info but the company was bought out, he was laid off and no one would speak to us "without a lawyer", which we couldn't afford. To this day we have no way of knowing if this incident could still impact his health.
All potentially harmful chemicals should at the very least be labeled with their components for the consumers right to know. Even the most complicated chemical descriptions can be researched by the layman for possible personal impact.
Did you ask for an MSDS for the material? All companies are required by federal law to have an MSDS for a material. If the company did not have it, the distributor should have it. For example, you can buy paint from any store. You don't generally get an MSDS when you do this, but they do have to provide one if you ask for it. These laws are found in both OSHA and EPA regulations.

Hazard Communication. - 1910.1200

Protect the Environment: Learn about Your Right to Know | Resources | US EPA
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Old 05-05-2010, 06:15 AM
 
Location: Washington D.C.
345 posts, read 1,637,153 times
Reputation: 266
Quote:
Originally Posted by TKramar View Post
MSDS. Material Safety Data Sheets. It's surprising that they aren't included with every chemical, but most would throw them away anyway.

In my experience, most chemicals already have common sense advisements. "Not for internal use.", "Do not get in eyes or on skin."

I think there is a gross over-use of this term " common sense " . The idea that this knowledge is common is your opinion of what people should know. Most people DON"T know. There are many people working these dangerous jobs that can't read or don't read or speak English and the employers know this and exploit this fact.
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Old 05-05-2010, 07:08 AM
 
Location: Way South of the Volvo Line
2,788 posts, read 7,984,468 times
Reputation: 2845
Quote:
Originally Posted by Poltracker View Post
Did you ask for an MSDS for the material? All companies are required by federal law to have an MSDS for a material. If the company did not have it, the distributor should have it. For example, you can buy paint from any store. You don't generally get an MSDS when you do this, but they do have to provide one if you ask for it. These laws are found in both OSHA and EPA regulations.

Hazard Communication. - 1910.1200

Protect the Environment: Learn about Your Right to Know | Resources | US EPA
This was on a sub-contract construction site for a bridge project over 25 years ago, before the OSHA requirement. the incident in question involved a co-worker being careless with the material which resulted in my DH getting some in his eyes despite all the precautions he personally took. Protective eyewear was not required or provided. Strangely enough we did have knowledge of data sheets but they were not made available to us. My husband was laid off due to lack of work (the project was near completion) and the company was bought out by another firm shortly before he got his walking papers. None of the new management was cooperative in this matter. Even the information provided to the attending physician in ER was brief and sketchy.
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