Lawmakers in Greater Los Angeles Lead the Fight Against Chemicals related to leukemiaADHD, hearing loss and breast cancer – and more – through a Series of proposed environmental laws.
Representative Laura Friedman, Democrat from Burbank, is pushing for a bill to ban Herbicide Paraquatwhich is related to a 64% increased risk of Parkinson's disease.
Rep. Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) supports the initiative to ban six harmful food dyes from public school meals. Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) is leading an initiative to combat Exposure to guide in schools. And Reps. Luz Rivas (D-Arleta) and Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) are sponsoring a bill to remove two cancer-causing chemicals from plastic packaging.
All 4 bills met their deadline for a vote within the House this month and can now be sent to the state Senate.
Meanwhile, the state Senate has passed a bill by Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) that closes a loophole within the State ban on plastic bagsA companion bill has already been passed by the Assembly, so this bill can now land on Governor Gavin Newsom's desk.
Together, all five laws have the potential to dramatically improve the health situation of youngsters. Farmworkerand Californians basically, while giving Mother Nature a break from toxins and pollution.
Friedman's AB 1963 would ban paraquat, a chemical she said is “by far the most toxic herbicide still in use in California today,” effective January 1, 2025.
The chemical is banned in greater than 60 countries, but stays widely utilized in California to grow crops resembling corn, soybeans, cotton, almonds and peanuts. In addition to the increased risk of Parkinson's disease, paraquat has also been linked to hypertension, heart failure, kidney failure, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukemia in children.
AB 1963 is supported by outstanding labor leader Dolores Huerta, who spoke before the State Assembly concerning the chemical's disproportionate impact on Latino farmworkers.
“This dangerous herbicide has been used since the 1960s, endangering millions of essential farmworkers, their families and local residents,” she said. “Farmworkers feed American families. We must do better for them.”
In addition, local lawmakers are attempting to accommodate California's children, whose brains and immune systems are still developing and are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of chemicals.
Representative Holden is asking for tougher motion against the state's long-standing enemy: lead in drinking water – a strong neurotoxin that may irreversibly damage children's mental development, hearing and talent to pay attention.
In 2018, Holden authored a law requiring licensed child care centers within the state to check their tap water for lead contamination. The results were released last 12 months and showed that one in 4 facilities had lead levels above the appropriate limit.
Now he’s pushing bill AB 1851, which goals to remove lead from drinking water in schools and daycare centers and to fund a program to check and take away lead from drinking water in ten school districts.
“Lead use is higher among youth and disadvantaged populations,” Holden said in a press release concerning the bill. “By supporting schools with the resources and appropriate standards to ensure our children's drinking water is safe, we help protect our schools, students and communities.”
Rep. Gabriel can be working to ban chemicals that may harm children's brains, behavior, and immune systems. He is the writer of AB 2316, which might ban several food dyes – Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2, and Green Dye No. 3 – in addition to the food additive titanium dioxide from public school meals.
The dyes have been found to cause neurobehavioral disorders, while titanium dioxide has been linked to DNA damage and immune system disorders.
“As a legislator, a parent and someone who has struggled with ADHD, I find it unacceptable that we allow schools to serve foods with additives that have been linked to cancer, hyperactivity and neurological damage,” Gabriel said. “This bill will empower schools to better protect the health and well-being of our children and encourage manufacturers to stop using these dangerous additives.”
Finally, Representatives Rivas and Lowenthal support bill AB 2761, which advocates for stricter measures against the usage of chemicals in plastic packaging.
Authored by Rep. Gregg Hart, Democrat of Santa Barbara, the bill would ban PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in plastic packaging sold or distributed within the state. The chemicals have been linked to an increased risk of several cancers, including liver, brain, lung and breast cancer.
Senators Allen and Catherine Blakespeare (D-Encinitas) are working together to shut a key loophole within the state's 2014 plastic bag ban by removing the exemption for thicker, reusable plastic bags. After the 2014 ban went into effect, those thicker bags largely replaced thin, single-use plastic bags at grocery stores—but those reusable bags still ended up in trash cans.
Today, a decade later, Californians throw away almost twice as much plastic waste every year.
“These thicker plastic bags may be labeled as reusable, but most of us only use them once,” said Janice Hahn, Los Angeles County Executive. “This loophole has undermined the state's efforts to reduce our use of single-use plastics and, ironically, made the problem worse. I'm grateful to Senator Ben Allen and his colleagues for taking on this issue and taking a stand against the plastics industry.”
At the start of the month, the Supervisory Board adopted a resolution Hahn has written a press release expressing his support for the bill.
image credit : www.mercurynews.com