Huffington Magazine Issue 22 | Page 42

CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES TOXIC DANGERS helped lead more than 200 moms and kids as part of the National Stroller Brigade in Washington, D.C. Their mission: convince Congress to retire the outdated Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA), the country’s main law regulating chemicals used in everyday products, and replace it with the stronger, more precautionary Safe Chemicals Act. That legislation, first proposed by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) in 2010, now awaits a Senate vote. The swap would essentially shift the burden of proof for HUFFINGTON 11.11.12 chemical safety from the current assumption that a chemical is safe until proven toxic by the EPA to a requirement for industry to prove that a chemical is safe prior to placing it on store shelves. Of all the parents among the nearly 3,400 people who have so far attended screenings of his film worldwide, Brown said that at least nine out of every 10 had no prior idea that most of the products they buy have never been tested for effects on a child’s brain, immune or reproductive system. “We fundamentally need better laws to protect the public,” said Dahl, “not better shopping lists.” Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) proposed the Safe Chemicals Act in 2010.