8/14/09
Sign the Petition for PVC-Free School Supplies!

We need your help to get toxic chemicals out of children’s school supplies. Today we’re launching our new Petition for PVC-Free School Supplies. Help CHEJ send a strong message to manufacturers and retailers of PVC school supplies – we want PVC the poison plastic out, and safer products in! PVC is the most toxic plastic for our health and environment – and is widespread in school supplies such as backpacks, lunchboxes and 3-ring binders.

Sign the petition now, and help us send a message to big corporations that PVC has no place in our children’s school supplies.

8/4/09
CHEJ Releases PVC-Free Back-to-School Guide

Need help keeping poison plastics off of your back to school shopping list? The Center for Health, Environment & Justice has created this Back-to-School Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies to empower you to make smarter, healthier shopping choices for a toxic-free future. To find out about the most common back-to-school supplies made out of polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl) plastics and learn about safer PVC-free alternatives, download the guide here.

We also created a handy wallet-sized version of the guide for your shopping needs on the go click here.

7/10/09
Congressional Briefing Looks at Benefits of Refinancing Superfund

This week, Lois Gibbs, CHEJ Executive Director presented the case for renewing Superfund polluter pays fees at a Congressional briefing sponsored by Rep. Blumenauer. Superfund sites are the most toxically polluted sites in the country. They endanger the health of local communities and inhibit economic growth. Read Lois’s full remarks here.

7/09/09
Phthalates in PVC Linked to Underweight Babies – Are There Phthalates in Your School?

The scientific evidence on phthalates, over 90% of which are used in PVC, keeps on mounting. A new independent study on these gender-bending chemicals (commonly found in PVC flooring in schools) found phthalates linked to underweight babies. The Daily Mail reports that, “The latest study looked at phthalate levels in the blood and meconium - the first bowel movement - of 201 newborn babies in China. The researchers, from China's Fudan University and Rockefeller University in New York, found phthalates in 70 per cent of them. The levels were significantly higher in the 88 children with low birth weights, they reported in the Journal of Pediatrics.” Click here to view.

7/09/09
Controversial PVC Plant Closing -- Suspected of Contaminating Drinking Water at Trailer Park in Plaquemine, Louisiana

Dow Chemical, one of the largest manufacturers of PVC chemicals in the world, announced they’re cutting production of vinyl chloride and ethylene dichloride at their Plaquemine, Louisiana plant over the next two years. Click here to view.
This is the very same plant that was suspected of leaching cancer-causing vinyl chloride into drinking water at a nearby trailer park, where a number of residents suffered from miscarriages according to the NY Times. Click here to view.
Dow isn’t the only PVC manufacturer cutting back these days. In related news, Mitsubishi has announced they’re exiting the PVC business. Click here to view.

6/30/09
CHEJ Releases New Media & Messaging Tool Kit

Struggling to make your voice heard over industry’s public relations consultants? Trying to get your side of the story covered by the newspapers? Wondering where to start? CHEJ is here to help with our new Media & Messaging Tool Kit of fact sheets, sample news releases and more. Find all the tips and tricks to help your group compete with the corporate media machine. Click here to view the Tool Kit.

6/30/09
EPA misses deadline to release safe school siting guidelines

June marks the 18-month congressional deadline for EPA to develop and release national school siting guidelines. The office in charge of these guidelines, The Office of Children and Environmental Education, announced in March that the release of the guidelines will be delayed. As EPA continues to work on producing school siting guidelines that can be adopted by school boards and states, CHEJ is launching a month long Educate For Safe School Siting campaign. Join the campaign! click here

6/24/09
EPA Releases First Results of School Air Quality Monitoring Initiative

EPA monitored Ashland City Elementary School in Ashland City, TN and Lakeview Elementary School in New Johnsonville, TN for manganese and other metals. Manganese is a metal commonly used in manufacturing that affects the central nervous and reproductive systems. The results are currently being analyzed to determine the potential long-term health risks of manganese exposure. click here

6/23/09
SCHUMER URGES TONAWANDA COKE PLANT CEO TO TAKE STRONGER ACTIONS TO REDUCE BENZENE EMISSIONS THAT ARE THREATENING THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF TOWN RESIDENTS

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer wrote to the owner and CEO of the Tonawanda Coke Corporation urging the firm to enact measures to reduce the release of harmful benzene emissions from the Tonawanda plant. See the full letter and additional information.

6/22/09
Mothers Ask First Lady to Host Forum on Safe School Siting

Mothers across the country submitted letters today to First Lady, Michelle Obama , asking for her support and leadership in the fight for state and federal school siting guidelines. Over 400 mothers sent letters as part of a campaign coordinated by the Center for Health, Environment & Justice.Click here for the press release.