Maine wages fight against toxic chemicals

[catgirl]

Source: Reuters

AUGUSTA, Maine (Reuters) - Hannah Pingree was so alarmed when she learned she had dangerously high levels of mercury, arsenic and other toxic chemicals in her body that she took her case to the Maine state legislature and challenged chemical makers.

As the majority leader of Maine's House of Representatives, she sponsored legislation that gave the state the authority to broadly identify and investigate "chemicals of high concern" in consumer products, particularly those that may reach children.

The bill, signed into law in April, makes Maine the first U.S. state with such authority and could serve as a model for other U.S. states trying to fill a regulatory void left by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Just five chemicals out of 82,000 known to be hazardous to human health, for instance, have been banned by the EPA since 1976, the most recent being asbestos in 1989.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080725/us_nm/chemicals_maine_dc;_ylt=Al4ZNWxbo3ffsG09PD5httKs0NUE

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Read the whole article-very disturbing. We need to pick up speed on changing this situation.