Good News, Bad News
Tell Senator Burr it's time to stand up for kids, not chemical companies.

First, the good news: Last week, the U.S. Senate strengthened the FDA with a Food Safety Modernization bill that also protects small farmers! Now for the bad news: Senator Richard Burr of NC teamed up with the American Chemistry Council to stop a bipartisan amendment that would have removed the toxic chemical BPA from baby bottles and sippy cups. Take Action: Contact Senator Burr today to tell him that we expect our Senators to stand up for children, not for chemical companies! Learn more about the FDA's Food Safety bill and Senator Burr's involvement with the chemical industry.

Photo courtesy of Abigail Batchelder >> Contact Senator Burr today and tell him it's time to put kids before chemical companies. >> A Shopper's Guide to Greener Plastics from GreenToGrow.com

Take Action:
Contact Senator Burr today to tell him that we expect our Senators to stand up for children, not for chemical companies!

Let Senator Burr know that you want his support for real toxics reform that protects our kids - not for chemical companies. There's a sample letter, below, that you can use to write your own, or as a basis for your phone message.

Send your letter via email to Natasha Hickman, Legislative Director for Senator Burr: natasha_hickman@burr.senate.gov.

Or call his Winston-Salem office at 1-800-685-8916 to leave a message for his staff.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear Senator Burr,

I'm deeply disappointed and angry that you stood with chemical industry lobbyists to kill a bipartisan effort to protect kids from the toxic chemical BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups.

Research shows clearly that BPA exposure, particularly during infancy, is associated with a wide range of adverse health effects in later life, including breast and prostate cancer, birth defects, infertility in men, early puberty in girls, diabetes and obesity. Despite this evidence, BPA is still used in products designed for our most vulnerable citizens – infants and young children.

I stand united with 40 million other Americans including moms, nurses, scientists and public health advocates, in asking that you support public policy that will protect the health of all children in America from BPA, and from all the toxic chemicals we encounter in our day-to-day lives. The profits of chemical manufactures should not be allowed to trump children's health any longer.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME AND NC ADDRESS HERE

Thank you for taking action! Please contact us at info@toxicfreenc.org or 919-833-1123 if you have any questions.

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Background Information about the FDA Food Safety Enhancement Act:
The FDA Food Safety Enhancement Act is the largest overhaul of food safety rules in 70 years. It addresses the recent outbreak of food-borne illnesses and food recalls resulting from slack oversight of industrial-scale agricultural operations.

NC Senator Hagan co-sponsored the successful Tester-Hagan amendment to the bill, exempting small scale farmers and those who only sell locally from the new federal food safety requirements, though of course they still have to adhere to state and local standards. This is good news for small local farmers, who could have easily been put out of business by burdensome regulations designed to fix health and safety problems in much larger farms and food processing facilities.

NC's other Senator Burr bowed to pressure from the chemical industry's lobby in Washington and blocked the Feinstein Amendment from being included in the new law. The amendment would have banned the toxic chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, from baby bottles and sippy cups. BPA exposure, particularly during infancy, is associated with a wide range of adverse health effects, including breast and prostate cancer, birth defects, infertility in men, early puberty in girls, diabetes and obesity.

It is deeply troubling that Senator Burr put the interests of chemical companies ahead of our kids.

Congress will soon have the opportunity to reform the 40-year-old Toxic Safety Control Act, overhauling our nation's system for testing and approving all kinds of chemicals in our day-to-day lives - such as chemicals found in toys, cleaners, furniture, cosmetics, and pesticides too. As those critical reforms are negotiated in the coming session, we will need Senator Burr, and all our elected representatives in Washington, to stand up for what's best for our kids, not for the chemical industry.

Take action today and demand that Senator Burr stand up for our kids, not for the chemical companies.