Healthy Legacy’s 2013 legislative agenda is making great progress. We are supporting three bills this legislative session that address priority chemicals in children’s products. After countless committee hearings, two of our bills have completed their committee paths and await floor votes in both houses.
- Ban on formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasing chemicals in children’s personal care products designed for children under age 8. SF 357 / HF 458 require that these harmful chemicals be removed from children’s bubble bath, shampoo and body washes by August 1, 2014 and removed from store shelves by August 1, 2015. We thank our chief authors Sen. Ann Rest and Rep. John Persell for their leadership and hard work on these bills.
- Ban on BPA in children’s food packaging for products designed for children under age 3. SF 379 / HF 459 require that these harmful chemicals be removed from baby food jars, formula cans and toddler food containers by August 1, 2014 and removed from store shelves by August 1, 2015. We thank our chief authors Sen. Katie Sieben and Rep. Joe Atkins for their leadership and hard work on these bills.
Our third bill, the Toxic Free Kids Act (TFKA) of 2013 requires that manufacturers report the presence of a priority chemical in their children’s products and requires the eventual replacement of these harmful chemicals with safer alternatives. This bill passed through several committees in each house, but was voted down on March 18 in the Senate Commerce Committee. The bill was transformed through the committee process into a strong reporting bill that harmonizes with Washington and would put Minnesota on a solid path to address priority chemicals. We thank our chief authors Sen. Chris Eaton and Rep. Ryan Winkler for their leadership and hard work on these bills.
Thanks to the Minnesota legislature, the work of state agencies and the Healthy Legacy coalition, Minnesota is already a leading state in protecting children from toxic chemical exposures. We need to take the next step and assure that we have policies to address all priority chemicals by passing TFKA. We will be back in 2014!
Healthy Legacy is a diverse public health coalition that works to phase out the use of toxic chemicals in consumer products. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy is a co-founding member of the coalition.
