More Falsehoods About Flame Retardants

A few weeks ago the Chicago Tribune published a watchdog piece about the lies the chemical and tobacco industries used in order to profit while exposing children and families to toxic chemicals in flame retardants. They’ve been using front groups, false testimony, and unsound research in their dirty lobbying tactics to promote these toxic flame retardants.

In response to,  twenty-one legislators--including Michigan Representative Mark Meadows, Senator Rebekah Warren, and former representative Hon. Deb Kennedy--wrote a letter to the American Chemistry Council asking that they address the unethical behaviors of the flame retardant manufacturers among them. American Chemistry Council President and CEO Cal Dooley responded saying that the ACC does not lobby state legislators on behalf of flame retardant chemistries.

However, the Safer States coalition says this is a lie. The coalition came out with evidence showing the ACC lobbying for flame retardants. As states have been stepping up to take action on toxic chemicals, the ACC has been there, trying to defeat these state bills. In Washington, the ACC lobbyied against a ban on chlorinated Tris, an ingredient in flame retardants associated with cancer and hormone disruption. In California, they said Tris posed no health risks when the state tried to get warning labels for it. In Minnesota, registered ACC lobbyists reported fire retardants as one of their lobbying subjects. And in Maine, numerous legislators witnessed the ACC lobbying against policies for flame retardants.

How can the ACC even pretend anymore? We know the dangers of flame retardants, and now Americans know that the chemical and tobacco industries have been lying to us and to our legislators. It’s time for reform.  

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