The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow (AHT)
A broad coalition in Massachusetts working to pass laws and policies that prevent harm to our health from toxic chemicals. Our top priorities are to create a groundbreaking program in Massachusetts to systematically replace toxic chemicals with safer alternatives that are better for workers and the environment, and to compel the Massachusetts Department of Health to use its authority to protect the health of children and vulnerable adults from the toxic chemical bisphenol A. Please join the effort.
Stroller Brigade to Congress: Toxics chemicals have to go!
Posted on May 24, 2012With chants of "People have a right to know! Toxic chemicals have to go!" and "Chems in kids, that's the worst, time to put the people first!" Approximately 200 moms, nurses, cancer survivors and other passionate citizens from across the United States gathered in Washington DC on May 22nd for a Stroller Brigade for Safe Chemicals organized by Safer Chemicals Healthy Families.
The Stroller Brigade participants sent a strong message to Congress: Our families are sick and struggling and we are tired of unawarely bringing toxic chemicals into our homes and exposing our children and ourselves because the United States has inadequate chemical safety laws. It's unacceptable that the only law we have is the broken, ineffective and outdated Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA). We can do better and we must in order to protect our health and lower health care costs in this country.
Laura: Mercury does not belong in your mouth
Posted on May 24, 2012Laura Henze Russell is a member of the Massachusetts delegation to the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families' Stroller Brigade for Safe Chemicals in Washington DC.
Laura grew up on Long Island, New York. The horror of cancer hit home early for Laura when one of her friends lost her mother to the disease in high school. Unfortunately it didn't stop there. Over time, the the majority of her friends from the neighborhood, and their mothers, have contracted breast cancer.
Cancer hit her family too. Laura's mother got non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in her 60s, her father--who was not a smoker--was diagnosed with lung cancer in his 80s, and Laura herself had breast cancer in her 40s and got fibromyalgia 20 years ago.
Read more...Gail: Unwanted toxics in the home
Posted on May 21, 2012Gail MCCormick is a member of the Massachusetts delegation to the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families' Stroller Brigade for Safe Chemicals in Washington DC.
Gail is a mother of two, a grandmother of three, and a dedicated activist. Though she's lived in 12 different states in her lifetime, she's lived in Massachusetts for 17 years and currently calls Arlington home.
When her children were young, Gail's family went through a harrowing experience of toxic chemical exposure that opened her eyes to the need for change. She says:
"About 30 years ago, when my son, Braydon, was 9 and my daughter, Sabrina, was 7, we were living in Georgia and our house had a problem of powderpost beetles in the stuctural beams. We hired an extermination company who came in and sprayed the beams with chloridane. Chloridane was banned at that time, but the two old guys who worked for the company had been using it for years and didn't see any reason why they should quit, even if it was banned. They sprayed it everywhere. After they left, I wiped down the walls to try to get rid of it. Soon after that my hands went numb and I started to feel sick.
Read more...State legislators to hold office hours at Medford wet cleaner Friday
Posted on May 15, 2012State Representative Sean Garballey and State Senator Pat Jehlen want what's best for their district. They care about local businesses, the health of residents, and the local environment. That's why they will be available to meet with residents this Friday to hear your concerns about environmental health, local businesses, or anything else on your mind.
Meet Rep. Garballey and Sen. Jehlen
Where: Best Neighborhood Cleaner, 570 High Street, Medford, MA
When: Friday, May 18th, 11 am
Best Neighborhood Cleaner uses a process called wet cleaning, a nontoxic alternative to dry cleaning that can clean virtually everything just as well. The High Street business switched to this safe, healthy method from perchlorethylene (perc), a solvent, and probable carcinogen, used by many dry cleaners. For more information about wet cleaning and perc, visit the AHT website.
If you want to meet your state legislators or learn about a local business that's improving the health of your neighborhood, this is your chance!
Toxic chemicals in the workplace: Putting millions of workers at risk
Posted on May 14, 2012From day one, labor organizations have been at the core of the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow's coalition and protecting the health of workers have been a primary objective of our mission. Below is an article written by our friends at Safer States which celebrates the involvement of the labor movement in the fight for safer chemicals and highlights the contributions of Massachusetts labor partners in particular.
Nearly each day, four million people in the United States go to work as janitors, cleaners, maids, housekeepers, landscaping and groundskeeping workers, pesticide handlers and other maintenance occupations. Over 3% of the workforce is employed in these jobs, which are among the lowest paying jobs in the country.1 But the below-average wages aren't the worst thing about the job: these people are exposed to toxic chemicals in their workplace on a daily basis.
According to workers' compensation data, six out of every 100 custodians have a lost-time injury every year due to chemical exposure.2 The majority of injuries involve eye irritation and burns, skin irritation and burns, or breathing chemical fumes. And these are just the short-term effects.
Read more...