California Initiative Targets Toxic Chemicals in Everyday Products

California officials have proposed strict new rules to reduce the toxic chemicals used in everyday products, including children’s toys, plastic bottles and furniture. A draft of the regulations, released by the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), prioritizes a list of “chemicals of concern” — including carcinogens, mutagens, and neurotoxins — that could pose risks to human health or the environment. Products containing those chemicals would then be prioritized based on public exposure — particularly among children, pregnant women and other sensitive populations — and how those substances are eventually disposed. And manufacturers would be required to determine if alternative chemicals could be used in the production of the items. While other states have undertaken similar initiatives, California officials call this the most ambitious effort to date. “We want to capture the products most prevalent in the society that contain chemicals that are very toxic,” Maziar Movassaghi, the DTSC’s acting director, told Environmental Health News. We don’t want California to become the dumping ground of products that can’t be sold in Europe or Canada or Japan.”