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At the Summit:
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70,000 to 80,000 Chemicals and Counting
Participants asked questions after the panelists' presentations.
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by Tanya Tolchin
There are around 70 to 80 thousand different chemicals on the market today – and we know almost nothing about the environmental and health impacts of most of them. That was the take-home message of Friday’s Targeting Toxics Workshop, moderated by Sierra Club leader Doris Cellarius, with panelists Kristin Schafer of Pesticide Action Network and Gregg Small of the Washington Toxics Coalition. The session provided a stark and honest assessment of the threats chemicals pose to the environment and public health and offered advice on what we can all do to help. New chemicals are routinely placed on the market before they are proven safe for people and the environment. This problem is compounds when chemicals combine in our bodies and in the environment, putting us at risk. And there are so many examples of chemicals to be concerned about, from pesticides to cosmetics to the plastics in food containers and water bottles. The presenters urged us to get involved in fighting toxics by calling for alternatives to the worst chemicals and promoting the common sense precautionary principal, which says that chemicals should be proven safe before being introduced. Schafer and Small suggested that local grassroots efforts can make great strides in cleaning up communities. The profound interest in this session was clear when more than a dozen people lined up at the microphone for the Q & A. Many Sierra Club leaders shared stories of severe chemical pollution in their communities and asked for advice addressing these problems. The panelists were able to provide excellent advice and resources that will almost certainly help advance efforts to fight for safer communities across the country. -- 09/09/2005 Fri |
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