The Alliance for Healthy Homes is delighted to welcome
Patrick MacRoy as its new executive director. Patrick is currently the program
director for the Chicago Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP).
Prior to his program director position, he served as an epidemiologist for the
Chicago and Rhode Island CLPPPs. Patrick will be joining the Alliance in early
March.
In Chicago, Patrick helped create one of the top big city
lead poisoning prevention programs while simultaneously working to expand the
CLPPP's scope into other healthy housing issues. He worked to expand the health
department's radon program, providing free inspections to single family homes
throughout the city; helped launch a partnership with Northwestern Children's
Memorial Hospital to provide injury prevention education and safety products
to families with lead-poisoned children; and required the department's lead
nurses to obtain asthma certification. Patrick also helped facilitate training
of his staff in pesticide safety, basic integrated pest management, and how
to identify illegal pesticides, and provided other healthy homes cross-training.
Judge Throws
Out Toledo’s Lawsuit against Former Lead Pigment Companies
A judge in Ohio threw out the City of Toledo’s public
nuisance lawsuit against eight former lead pigment manufacturers, ruling in
mid-December 2007 that the city could not proceed with its claims. The city
is deciding whether it will appeal the decision.
States other than Rhode Island have been reluctant to apply
a public nuisance theory of liability to paint companies that manufactured lead
pigment used to formulate the lead-based paint that contaminates millions of
homes throughout the United States. Instead, courts like the one presided over
by Judge Ruth Ann Franks have asserted that city and state claims against the
companies are instead governed by product liability laws. Advocates have called
these rulings “questionable” and maintain that there is ample legal
basis for filing claims under public nuisance laws.
The Toledo case dismissal is the latest in a series of
setbacks among government-filed lawsuits against the lead industry. In 2007,
courts in Missouri and New Jersey held that their states’ public nuisance
laws do not apply to lead-based paint contamination in homes. That same year,
several Ohio cities that had filed cases at the same time as Toledo voluntarily
dismissed their lawsuits against the industry. The City of Milwaukee’s
ongoing suit against former pigment makers is the only other case still pending
in the U.S. in which public nuisance is a cause of action. UPDATE:
Despite news reports to the contrary, the City of Columbus, OH, is continuing
to pursue a public nuisance cause of action against several former pigment makers.
The suit is currently pending before Judge Eric S. Brown.
Campaign
to Make Model Code More Health Protective Moves Forward
The Alliance for Healthy Homes and the National Center
for Healthy Housing submitted ten proposals to the International Code Council
(ICC) in August 2007 that would increase the health-protectiveness of the International
Property Maintenance Code (IPMC). These proposals address requirements for the
correction of moisture problems and methods of dealing with pest infestations,
carbon monoxide dangers, lead paint hazards, and other household health hazards.
(See www.afhh.org/aa/aa_housing_codes.htm#proposedchanges
for a full list of these proposals).
Because the IPMC is the model code used by hundreds of
local and state jurisdictions, adoption of these changes would have far-reaching
health benefits for people throughout the country.
The ICC will hold a hearing on February 18 in Palm Springs,
CA, to review the proposals. The Alliance encourages healthy homes advocates
and code officials in all jurisdictions to support these proposals at the hearing.
Anyone can join the ICC and vote at the initial hearing; only government staff
can vote at the final hearing, which will be held in Minneapolis in September.
A sign-on letter in support of these code changes (and
instructions for signing on) is available at www.afhh.org/aa/aa_housing_codes.htm#proposedchanges.
The Alliance invites other healthy homes advocates to work with us and to convince
your local code officials to support these proposals and participate in the
ICC’s process. To learn more about the process and how to support the
proposals, contact Ruth Klotz-Chamberlin at ruthkc@afhh.org.
Paint
Companies Oppose Proposed Rhode Island Lead Cleanup Plan While State Supreme
Court Upholds Lead Law
In December 2007, the three companies held liable for lead-based
paint contamination in hundreds of thousands of Rhode Island homes vigorously
and vocally objected to the state’s proposed lead cleanup plan. The state’s
proposal, comprehensive in nature, would cost up to $2.4 billion and make some
250,000 homes lead-safe.
On January 4, attorneys for Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries,
and Millennium Holdings officially called on Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein
to set aside the state’s cleanup plan. They said the plan is riddled with
“legal flaws” and asserted that the three former lead pigment manufacturers
should not be responsible for the costs of cleaning up individual homes because
the state never detailed the specific homes contaminated by lead-based paint.
The January filings are the latest in a series of motions,
appeals, and objections designed to delay the companies from having to accept
responsibility for selling what jurors deemed to be an inherently dangerous
product that created a public nuisance throughout Rhode Island. In February,
a year will have passed since the state’s historic court victory. In May,
the state’s Supreme Court is expected to hear a series of final oral arguments
from the companies’ various appeals. A decision could come as early as
this summer.
In the meantime, the Rhode Island Supreme Court upheld
the state’s lead poisoning prevention law. The opinion overturns a 2006
decision by Superior Court Judge Stephen Fortunato. The lower court decision
had ruled that because certain rental property owners were treated different
than other property owners, the law violated the state constitution’s
equal protection clause.
The state Supreme Court strongly disagreed with Fortunato’s
reasoning. In its opinion, the court said, “[T]he state has offered a
plethora of reasons to support the current statutory scheme.” The high
court’s opinion also mentioned Rhode Island’s efforts to eradicate
childhood lead poisoning, saying, “We are persuaded that the General Assembly
believed that targeting the areas where poisonings are most prevalent is one
step toward that end.”
Product Safety
Reform Passes House, Bogs Down in Senate
On December 19, the House passed what was seen as a strong
piece of legislation designed to reform consumer product safety processes in
the United States. The legislation was largely driven by a blizzard of recalls
of contaminated pet food, lead-contaminated toys, and children’s jewelry
and other imported products in 2007 that spotlighted the inability of the federal
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to cope with dangerous imports. On
the other side of the Capitol, however, the Senate failed to even take up a
similar bill.
The House bill, H.R. 4040, includes numerous provisions
that would enhance the CPSC’s authority to regulate the more than 15,000
products under its jurisdiction and ban industry-funded travel. In addition,
the bill would:
Lower the levels of lead permitted in consumer products
generally and especially lower lead levels in children's products;
Require independent third party testing of children's
products;
Modify CPSC's procedures for issuing safety regulations;
Modify CPSC's public disclosure procedures as well as
manufacturers' procedures for notifying the public about defective products;
and
Authorize increased appropriations for both CPSC activities
and for capital improvements to its research and testing facility.
The bill in the Senate, S. 2045, is not as comprehensive
as the House legislation. It excludes the travel ban and appropriates less money
in the short term for CPSC activities. The bill bogged down because in 2007,
the proposal’s main sponsor, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), failed to find a
single Republican co-sponsor. Pryor has said, however, that he is close to crafting
a bipartisan compromise that would allow the Senate to take up the bill early
in 2008. Both the Bush White House and the toy industry oppose some of the provisions
in the Senate bill, so it is unclear if Pryor will be able to move the bill
quickly.
At the same time Congress was floundering on protecting
children from lead in toys and jewelry, the State of Michigan passed a law limiting
the toxin in children’s products. The legislation, signed by Gov. Jennifer
Granholm (D) on Dec. 20, 2007, bans the production or sale of any toys, lunchboxes,
jewelry, and other children’s items if they contain 600 parts per million
(ppm) or more of lead. In addition, the law also brings back the Michigan Childhood
Lead Poisoning Prevention and Control Commission and charges the commission
with determining if the 600 ppm limit is actually protective enough. The commission
will have until March 31 to report to the governor. The commission study is
warranted, according to the legislation’s sponsors, because the American
Academy of Pediatrics recently called for a 40 ppm limit on lead in these products.
Illinois and California have already enacted legislation addressing lead in
children’s products, and other legislation is pending in Maryland and
Washington State.
EPA
Denies Air Freshener Petition but Asks Companies to Voluntarily Disclose Ingredients
Pressure from the Alliance and other healthy housing and
environmental organizations led the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
to take "baby steps" to investigate potentially toxic chemicals in
popular air fresheners, but EPA denied requests to comprehensively investigate
the chemicals and inform the public.
Far too little is known about which chemicals make up air
fresheners, and there is virtually no government oversight of the health risks
those chemicals may pose. Air fresheners do not clean the air; they just add
toxic chemicals to the air we breathe. Instead of thorough cleaning or effective
ventilation, air fresheners are too often used to mask smells from sewage, mold,
rodents, and cockroaches, all health risks in and of themselves.
The Alliance for Healthy Homes, the National Center for
Healthy Housing, the Sierra Club, and the Natural Resources Defense Council
petitioned EPA to take action last September. On December 18, EPA denied the
petition but sent letters to seven major manufacturers of air fresheners asking
for a voluntary list of chemicals in their products, the range of concentrations
for each chemical, the chemical’s function, and total annual amount used.
The seven manufacturers are Proctor and Gamble, Redkitt Benckiser, SC Johnson,
Shell Oil, Blythe, Lancaster Colony, and Dial.
Despite sending the letters, EPA denied the coalition’s
specific requests, which included requiring companies to:
Provide EPA with consumers’ reports of health
problems associated with air fresheners
Submit copies of existing health and safety studies
on the products
Test the products for their potential impacts on people’s
respiratory systems
Label products containing phthalates, a class of chemicals
that are suspected endocrine disruptors and possible developmental toxins
While disappointed with EPA’s
refusal to take the requested proactive steps to investigate the chemicals and
inform the public, the petitioners have continued to track the issue and are
considering a lawsuit against EPA over the agency’s denial of the
petition.
"[EPA’s request that the companies voluntarily
disclose information about air freshener ingredients] is a good first step to
understand how a common product could be potentially hazardous to millions of
Americans," said Dr. Megan Sandel of Boston Medical Center and Boston University,
an Alliance board member and a pediatrician who has raised concerns about air
fresheners.
Proposal
to Allow Third-Party Endorsements on Pesticide Labels Draws Fire; Comments Due
to EPA by March 27
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to
allow pesticide manufacturers to display “third-party endorsements”
and charitable tie-ins on their labels. Until now, such promotional marketing
has been forbidden, with the pesticide labels devoted to safe usage directions.
EPA would approve each marketing claim on a case-by-case
basis, thus entangling the agency in the design of corporate campaigns, according
to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). A pesticide label
is a legal document, and EPA strictly regulates label content on insecticides,
herbicides, rat poisons, fungicides, and anti-microbial agents, including bleach,
to ensure that usage information is clear and complete.
Misuse and overuse of pesticides, however, is a major public
health problem. The most recent report from the American Association of Poison
Control Centers finds that pesticides are the eighth most frequent cause of
calls to poison centers, accounting for more than 100,000 documented exposures
a year, nearly half of which involve children younger than six.
Under the plan, pesticides and other regulated poisons
could feature endorsements from celebrities or prominent groups, as well as
tie-ins with charities on product packaging. Earlier this year, EPA bowed to
a request from the Clorox Company to display the Red Cross symbol in advertising
a pledge to donate a small percentage of the retail purchase price of its bleach
products to the charity. After agreeing to make an exception for Clorox, EPA
now wants to transform that exception into the rule.
EPA’s plan, which is open for public comment until
March 27, has already drawn objections from the Association of American Pesticide
Control Officials on the basis that such promotional claims “could mislead,
be misinterpreted, or be falsely offering assurances of safety….”
Attorneys general from seven states—New York, Illinois,
Connecticut, Maryland, Vermont, Oklahoma, and Arizona—have called on EPA
to retract the Clorox-Red Cross label. In addition, the State of Minnesota has
indicated that it will not allow the Clorox-Red Cross label to be displayed
on shelves there. EPA’s action appears to contradict its own guidelines,
which discourage any “symbols implying safety or non-toxicity, such as
a Red Cross or a medical seal of approval (caduceus).” EPA has suggested
that the agency will give conditional approval for labels even when it has “some
residual concern” about consumer confusion.
Immigrant
Children at Greater Risk of Lead Poisoning
The January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Public
Health published a study showing that children who immigrate from foreign
countries to New York City are at significantly greater risk of lead poisoning
than their domestically born peers. The study was the first of its kind in the
New York metro area.
The study also found that children who lived outside the
United States within six months of being tested for lead were 11 times more
likely to have elevated blood lead levels than children who had been in the
United States for a longer period of time. Children from certain countries,
including Mexico, Pakistan, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, appeared to be
at especially high risk.
The reasons for the greater risk of lead poisoning are
varied, according to researchers, and can include high exposures in countries
of origin, which often have less strict lead poisoning prevention and toxic
chemical regulations, and use of traditional products from a child’s native
country, which sometimes contain high levels of lead.
Prenatal
Exposure to Household Pesticides May Increase Cancer Risk in Children
A study published in the December 2007 issue of Environmental
Health Perspectives says that prenatal exposure to household pesticides
may increase the risk of certain types of childhood cancers.
Researchers conducted the study in France in 2004 and 2005.
They found that when mothers and fathers used pesticides during the mother’s
pregnancy, children were at significantly greater risk of developing acute leukemia,
non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and certain types of Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The association was especially strong with household insecticides.
Scientists concluded that while more study is needed to
determine specific causal pathways, if they do indeed exist, the findings bolster
the theory that household pesticide use increases the risk of various childhood
cancers. The researchers also noted that the study’s findings are consistent
with past research, suggesting that women should be advised against using household
pesticides while pregnant.
NeighborWorks America's upcoming Training Institute will
be held Feb. 25-29 in Atlanta and will feature several green building and healthy
homes courses and the full-day symposium "Go Green Now: Embracing Energy,
Efficiency, Healthy Housing and Green Building." Information about the
agenda, registration, and scholarships is available online at http://nw.org/network/training/upcoming/atlantanti08.asp.
A two-in-one national conference that combines the Indoor
Environmental Health and Technologies Annual Conference (Sponsored by the Lead
and Environmental Hazards Association) and the Lead and Healthy Homes Grantees
Annual Conference (Sponsored by the National Association of Lead and Healthy
Homes Grantees) will be held April 1-4 in Charleston, SC. The conference program
and hotel and registration information are available at www.leadmoldconferences.com.
Partial registration scholarships are available. Call Steve Weil at 1-800-590-6522
for information about the scholarships or other questions about the conference.
EPA is sponsoring a "National Asthma Forum: Sharing,
Learning, and Taking Action Together" on May 1-2, in Washington, DC. Asthma
prevention leaders from across the U.S. will meet to discuss the most effective
community-based strategies for managing asthma, share best practices, learn
from award-winning programs, and develop concrete strategies (including environmental
strategies). Representatives from health care plans, health care providers,
state and local health and environmental departments, nonprofit organizations,
and others affiliated with community asthma programs are all welcome. For more
information and registration, visit www.epaasthmaforum.com.
On June 3-5, the Ohio Department of Health and the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will host the Ohio Lead and Healthy
Homes Conference 2008 in Columbus. The goal of the conference is to educate
health care and environmental professionals, parents, and community leaders
about the current medical, environmental, and programmatic issues of childhood
lead poisoning prevention and the healthy home in Ohio. For more information,
visit www.odh.ohio.gov
after Feb. 1 or e-mail Melody Sexton at Melody.Sexton@odh.ohio.gov.
