New England Currents|Online, Summer 2009

Last year it was lead, this year Bisphenol A (BPA) is the toxic chemical making news headlines and worrying parents. BPA is the building block of polycarbonate plastic and has been found to leach from many baby bottles and other products. BPA has been linked to obesity, early onset puberty, low sperm count, hyperactivity, depression and other health effects. Recently, two new studies have been released showing some more shocking exposure pathways and effects of BPA.

The first study showed that newborn rats exposed to BPA through their mother's milk can have developmental changes in their mammary tissue which predisposes them to breast cancer. Nursing rats were fed very small amounts of BPA and their offspring showed abnormalities in their breast tissue when they reached maturity. In the second study premature infants were found to have greater levels of BPA in their bodies than adults. How is this possible? The premature infants studied were exposed to BPA through the medical devices and products that were being used to save their lives in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Both of these studies emphasize the need for lawmakers to take into account exposure to BPA in newborns through other pathways than just baby bottles, such as breastfeeding and medical devices/products. It is not enough to simply ban BPA in baby bottles.

In Massachusetts, Clean Water Action is working with the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow coalition to delivered over 8,400 petition signatures to Governor Deval Patrick to request a regulation banning the sale of children's products containing BPA and a consumer warning for pregnant women, those planning to become pregnant, and those going through chemotherapy for breast cancer to avoid products containing BPA. For more information and to sign the ongoing petition on the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow web site.

In Connecticut, Clean Water Action, partner groups, and leading lawmakers recently launched a campaign to phase out BPA from food and beverage containers and products for infants and toddlers. The co-chairs of the Legislature's Environment Committee, Representative Richard Roy and Senator Ed Meyer, State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, and a number of legislators and public health advocates voiced their support for the legislation at an event on January 27th (a video of the event is online).

Clean Water Action members are invited to submit written or oral testimony in support of smarter chemical safety laws for the public hearing on this legislation. Please contact Sarah Uhl (860) 232-6232 for more information.

 

In this issue of New England Currents|Online:

More Shocking News on BPA
Last year it was lead, this year Bisphenol A (BPA) is the toxic chemical making news headlines and worrying parents. BPA is the building block of polycarbonate plastic and has been found to leach from many baby bottles and other products. BPA has been linked to obesity, early onset puberty, low sperm count, hyperactivity, depression and other health effects. Recently, two new studies have been released showing some more shocking exposure pathways and effects of BPA.

2009 New England Legislative Updates
Updates on legislation in the Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island state legislatures.

Mobilizing For Action in New Hampshire
In one of the most exciting election seasons in recent history, Clean Water Action's membership grew dramatically in New Hampshire as part of our drive to elect strong environmental leaders in the Granite State. To keep this great momentum going forward, we've launched the Civic Engagement Project with a goal to educate, engage and mobilize our 15,000 members in New Hampshire on key federal and state issues.

Clean Water Action Prevents Mercury Pollution and Promotes Energy Efficiency
Clean Water Action's Zero Mercury Campaign has launched campaigns in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to require manufacturers to take responsibility for the collection and recycling of thermostats and light bulbs that contain mercury.

Massachusetts' Green Revolution
Worried about the cost of heating your home? You're not alone. After the major spike in the price of oil to almost $150 per barrel last year, the Patrick administration in Massachusetts formed a Winter Heating Task Force to address the potential heating oil crisis facing families across the commonwealth. Clean Water Action testified at the Task Force hearing to stress the need for energy efficiency measures as a critical element to reducing energy use and costs to families.

Go Solar Connecticut
Connecticut homes, municipalities and businesses are being hurt by rising and unpredictable energy prices. As power prices rise, municipal budgets are further stretched, small businesses scramble to keep their lights on, and families struggle to pay their utility bills. An investment in rooftop solar is an investment in a fuel-free power source which produces power at a stable cost and creates jobs for a Connecticut-based solar industry.

For California Woman, Protecting A River Can Cost You A Job
Heather Wylie traded her job for a river. And, given the choice, she'd do it again.

During the summer of 2008, Wylie joined a handful of protestors for a canoe and kayak trip down the LA River, earning the wrath of her employers and the attention of a nation. Why? At the time, Wylie was a biologist with the US Army Corps of Engineers. The agency had just declared the LA River as not navigable--a designation that put the watershed at risk and would have set a.dangerous precedent. Wylie and her compatriots were making their voyage to prove the Army Corps wrong. If their fleet could make the journey, they reasoned, then the LA River must be in-fact navigable, a critical first step in retaining Clean Water Act safeguards for the LA River system.

Restoring the Clean Water Act Must Top Congress' Agenda
Restoring the ability of the Clean Water Act to protect water resources must top Congress' water agenda. Supreme Court and agency decisions put at risk Clean Water Act protections for headwater, intermittent and ephemeral streams that supply drinking water systems that serve more than 110 million Americans. In total, 59 percent of the nation's waterways and millions of acres of wetlands are currently at risk.

What You Won't See In Those 'Clean Coal' Ads: Dirty Air, A Wall of Sludge, Poisoned Rivers
Surely you've seen the ads. They are scattered around the internet and splashed across our newspapers and magazines. Their commercials interrupt our favorite television shows and invade our local radio station's airspace. Yes, the ads are everywhere. But that doesn't make them true.

No PR campaign, no matter how well executed, can make coal clean. It's simply not possible.

Advocates for "clean" coal argue that technology exists-almost-that will allow coal-fired power plants to capture their carbon emissions and store the climate-changing gas deep under ground. Technically, this is true. Realistically, this would be extremely expensive, and wouldn't even begin to address most of the impacts felt by water. From mines to power plants, the process of wresting energy from coal is dirty and unhealthy for our waters, our communities and ourselves.

How Safe is Your Bath Tub?
Children's bubble baths should be clean, safe and fun. But No More Toxic Tub, a report published in March 2009 by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in partnership with Clean Water Action and other organizations, found contaminants and other hazardous ingredients in numerous popular shampoos, soaps and body care products marketed to babies and children.

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