I’m writing today with a personal, passionate, All Moms’ Hands On Deck plea. Lee “Pollution Spree” Zeldin, head of EPA, is proposing to weaken (!!!) toxic chemical reviews. This is an outrage; if anything, those protections need to be strengthened. But we know Zeldin won’t do that. Chemical manufacturers think it is fine for our stuff—toys! rugs! furniture!—to be made with toxic chemicals that are KNOWN carcinogens, that are known to make us sick, that disrupt our hormone systems—and those of our growing babies, children, and teens. That’s reckless and dangerous.
Tell EPA: Hands Off Chemical Safety Reviews
Yes, this is personal. I was diagnosed with kidney cancer when I wasn’t even 50 years old. When I asked if it was genetic—should I have my sons screened?—the doctor waved his hand breezily and said, “Oh no, don’t worry, it is one of those environmental cancers.”
What???? That made me even more concerned. My sons and I ate and drank and breathed and sat on and cleaned up with the same things. My exposure was their exposure—starting in the womb. That’s true for all of us—and especially true for an entire generation, younger than I am, that has been exposed to astronomical amounts of plastics containing toxic chemicals in every aspect of what we eat and drink and breathe and buy—for their entire lifetimes.
We have one day left to let Zeldin know he must not weaken toxic chemical protections. I haven’t given up on the power of Moms to protect our children’s health. Whether you are a MAHA Mom, or a Democratic or Republican or Independent Mom, a young Mom, or an older Grandmother—it doesn’t matter. Some things must be Mompartisan—beyond politics. They unite us. Protecting our children’s health is the biggest one, for me.
We know we can win too. EPA has backed off its effort to kill the Energy Star program. Why? Because people protested. Moms, who shop for appliances using that program. Store owners, who see it as a trusted marketing tool that helps their sales. Manufacturers, who want to align themselves with appliances that don’t hog or waste energy—and that are affordable.
Now it is time for the same groups of people—mothers, business leaders, stores (especially the big chains that sell in such high volumes), and manufacturers—to stop Zeldin from weakening toxic chemical protections. Moms need to be able to trust what we buy. We must trust the brands we turn to, the places we shop. We’re all reading about plastic lining our food containers and cartons, chemicals in cookware, chemicals in our rugs and furniture—we’re all reading, and worrying, and outraged that we are knowingly being exposed to toxic chemicals.
No wonder we are losing trust—in the companies that make our stuff, and that sell our stuff, and in the government agencies that are supposed to be protecting us. Why? Because they are not protecting us.
Maybe someday we will live in a world where it is simply UNTHINKABLE to use toxic chemicals in stuff that stores put on their shelves to sell to moms, teens, and children. Stuff that exposes us and our babies to harm. But until that day, all we have are the rules that keep toxic chemicals out of our stuff.
So let’s speak up, as loud as possible. HANDS OFF toxic chemical protections. I don’t want anyone to be struggling with a child’s cancer that is completely avoidable. The environmental cancers.