Protect NY’S kids now
New York lawmakers finally did the right thing in passing the Child Safe Products Act back in April. Here we are in December, though, and the bill has yet to become law.
As legislative priorities go, one would think a bill to protect children’s health would be high on the list of measures that would go to the governor’s desk as soon as possible after passage. The lack of action, or even discussion about the bill, has advocates understandably concerned that it could die this year as it has so many times in the past, this time by the governor’s veto.
The act would require product manufacturers to disclose the presence of harmful chemicals in items that are primarily intended for children, including baby products, toys, car seats, personal care products, teething products, sleep aids, bedding, furniture and clothes. It directs the Department of Environmental Conservation to post a list of dangerous chemicals, and, working with the Health Department, to periodically update it. DEC would also notify
consumers about products containing dangerous chemicals.
Most importantly, it would require manufacturers to phase out the most toxic chemicals — such as formaldehyde, arsenic and asbestos — in children’s products.
This bill has been kicking around for at least seven years. Before this year’s legislative session, it passed three times in the Democrat-dominated Assembly, but died in the Senate under Republican control. Various industries, including toy and chemical manufacturers, opposed the measure, insisting that existing federal regulations and voluntary industry actions were sufficient. They have not been, as testing by advocacy groups like Clean and Healthy NY and WE ACT for Environmental Justice over the years has shown.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has supported a child products bill in the past, but with a key difference, advocates note — his idea was only to disclose the presence of dangerous chemicals, not to ban products that include them.
That’s simply not enough. Most American consumers expect that some government agency has made sure that a product they might buy for their child is actually safe for kids to use. That is not always the case. Although Congress in 2016 finally updated the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act to give the Environmental Protection Agency more power to keep products with dangerous chemicals off the market, EPA has evaluated only a few hundred of the more than 60,000 chemicals used in consumer products. And given the Trump administration’s demonstrated willingness to weaken environmental and health regulations and enforcement, it’s unlikely EPA is making much progress getting that work done.
Last week America marked Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. If Governor Cuomo has been waiting for a good occasion to sign the Child Safe Products Act, it ’s now. New York shouldn’t let another year pass with the quest for profit putting kids at risk.