Center for Environmental Health

The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) is an American non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) organization working to protect children and families from harmful chemicals in air, food, water and in everyday products. Its vision and mission are "(A) world where everyone lives, works, learns and plays in a healthy environment; we protect people from toxic chemicals by working with communities, businesses, and the government to demand and support business practices that are safe for human health and the environment." CEH is headquartered in Oakland, California in the United States, with an East Coast office in New York City.

Early work

CEH was founded in 1996 by Michael Green, who previously worked for the U.S. Department of Energy.[1] The group brings litigation under a California law, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, which was enacted as a citizens’ ballot proposition and is often referred to as the state’s “Prop 65” law. Prop 65 requires companies to provide warnings when their products expose Californians to a chemical or chemicals that are known to cause cancer or serious reproductive health problems.[2]

In one of its early legal cases, CEH tested 16 home water filters and found 6 that were leeching lead into filtered water, above California safety limits.[3] CEH brought Prop 65 lawsuits against the 6 companies, and one company withdrew one filter model from the market and offered customers who had purchased the product a refund.[4]

Beginning in 2000, CEH joined by the California Attorney General, sued 34 companies that made playground equipment or picnic tables from wood treated with an arsenic-based preservative.[5] Until 2003, most wood sold in the U.S. for outdoor use was treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA), an arsenic-based preservative.[6] By late 2001, three national manufacturers of children's backyard play sets agreed to a CEH legal settlement calling for them to stop using arsenic in pressure-treated lumber within three months.[7] By 2003, all of the companies had agreed to stop selling arsenic-treated wood in California and nationwide.[5]

In addition to legal work, early on CEH was involved in support of groups fighting for environmental justice. In 1999-2001, CEH collaborated with local environmental justice community groups working to close East Oakland's Integrated Environmental Systems (IES) medical waste incinerator.[8] The incinerator was considered an environmental justice issue, because it burned waste from all over California and released the toxic byproducts mainly into an African-American and Latino community.[9] The IES incinerator, the last medical waste incinerator operating in California, was closed in December 2001.[10]

Lead in children's products

In 1999, CEH filed suit against pharmaceutical companies and retailers, including Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Rite Aid Corp., Safeway, Walgreens and others for sales of baby powders that the group alleged contained harmful levels of lead. The suit noted that the baby powders contained zinc oxide, which can contain lead, and that babies can be exposed if they inhale the compounds, and/or can absorb them through irritated skin, and/or could ingest them if they get the powder on their hands or mouth.[11] Ultimately, several manufacturers agreed to significant reductions in the lead in the products, up to 80% less for the products that had tested highest for lead.[5] In a similar suit, CEH and the California Attorney General sued makers of Kaopectate for high lead content in its products; the company agreed to reduce the levels of lead in its children’s Kaopectate by 95%, and by 80% in its adult variety.[5]

In 2004, CEH and other groups filed lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors of Mexican candies.[12] In 2006, the California Attorney General, along with CEH and the Environmental Health Coalition reached a legal settlement with the companies, including subsidiaries of Mars and Hershey, calling for the companies to reduce the lead levels in their products.[13]

Later in 2004, CEH again joined the Attorney General in a lawsuit against companies, including popular mall stores such as Claire's Boutique, Hot Topic and Zumiez, and department stores such as Target, Macy's and Nordstrom, that sold costume jewelry marketed to children, teens and adult containing high levels of lead.[14] In 2006, seventy-one companies, including Target, Kmart, Macy's, Nordstrom, Sears, Disney Stores and others, agreed to a legal settlement with the Attorney General and CEH that created the nation's first legally binding standards for lead in jewelry.[15]

In 2007, CEH testing found high levels of lead in a Curious George doll and other toys, leading to the organization's lawsuit against Marvel and other companies, including Toys R Us Inc., Wal-Mart, Sears, Kmart, K-B Toys, Target, Costco, and others for selling toys containing lead.[16] At the time, there was no federal law limiting lead in children’s products, other than for paint on products.[17] In 2008, CEH leveraged the California Prop 65 law to help win passage of the federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, designed to establish the first-ever comprehensive federal lead safety standards for children’s products.[18]

Recent work

In 2009, CEH filed a lawsuit after tests showed high lead levels in purses sold by 16 retailers.[19] By 2010, the group had tested purses from 100 top retailers, finding many with high lead levels.[20] In June of that year, CEH reached a legal settlement with more than 40 companies who agreed to stop selling items containing lead in excess of safety levels.[21] But ABC World News reported in 2012 that even after signing legal agreements to meet the lead limits, some companies continued to sell lead-containing purses. Their report says that CEH testing found 43 of the 300 purses tested with lead.[22] In 2013, the New York Times reported that the group found a steady reduction in lead contamination from accessories over all, but continued to find lead contamination in some fashion accessories sold to budget-conscious teenagers and young women at some retailers.[23]

Cola companies, including Pepsico and Coca Cola, were reportedly using caramel coloring for their colas that contain a carcinogenic chemical called 4-MEI. The companies pledged to switch to a reformulated coloring without 4-MEI, but NPR reported in 2013 that CEH testing found 10 Pepsi products bought outside of California still contained high levels of the chemical, while 9 of ten Coke products contained just trace levels or no 4-MEI.[24]

After California listed the flame retardant TDCPP (chlorinated Tris) as a cancer-causing chemical, testing commissioned by CEH found 15 baby and children’s products containing high levels of the chemical, above the state safety standard. In 2012, the group brought legal action against companies selling the products, including WalMart, Babies-R-Us, Target, and others.[25] The following year, CEH filed suit against companies for selling children’s nap mats that contained the chemical.[26] In 2014, CEH reached a legal settlement with 14 companies, calling for the companies to discontinue sales of certain products containing the chemical or provide warning labels. It also called for future products to be made without TDCPP and other flame retardants.[27] CEH also co-sponsored California legislation to require furniture makers to disclose whether furniture sold in California contains flame-retardant chemicals.[28] The bill was signed into law in September 2014.[29]

An October 2014 study co-authored by CEH’s Research Director Caroline Cox found levels of eight volatile chemicals in air samples around fracking sites exceeded federal air pollution guidelines in some circumstances.[30] In December, another study, whose lead author Ellen Webb works for CEH, found potential developmental and reproductive health problems for women and children living near fracking sites.[31]

Awards and recognition

In 2007, CEH Executive Director Michael Green was granted the Compassion in Action award by the Missing Peace project, a joint project of the Committee of 100 for Tibet and the Dalai Lama Foundation. In 2010, CEH was awarded a "Green Champion" by the San Francisco Business Times.[32]

References

  1. ↑ Annys Shin, "Taking Lead Safety Into Its Own Hands." Washington Post, November 10, 2007. accessed March 8, 2015
  2. ↑ California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, "Proposition 65 in Plain Language!." accessed March 8, 2015
  3. ↑ CNN, "Study: Some home water filters may make lead problem worse." June 18, 1998. Accessed March 8, 2015
  4. ↑ Alex Barnum, "Home-Filtered Water Fails Lead Test." San Francisco Chronicle, June 19, 1998. Accessed March 8, 2015
  5. 1 2 3 4 Clifford Rechtschaffen, "The Continued Success of Proposition 65 in Reducing Toxic Exposures." Environmental Law Institute, 35 ELR 10830 (2005). Accessed March 8, 2015
  6. ↑ New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, "Lumber Pressure Treated With Chromated Copper Arsenate." Accessed March 8, 2015
  7. ↑ Jane Kay, "Firms phasing out arsenic compound." San Francisco Chronicle, November 11, 2001. Accessed March 16, 2015
  8. ↑ Sheila D'Amico, "Hazardous Medical Waste Still Burns on High Street." McArthur Metro, December 2000. Accessed March 8, 2015
  9. ↑ Dick Russell, "Health Problem at the Health Care Industry." Amicus Journal, Winter 2000. Accessed March 8, 2015
  10. ↑ Janine DeFao, "Oakland medical waste incinerator to shut down." San Francisco Chronicle, December 8, 2001. Accessed March 15, 2015
  11. ↑ Jane Kay, "Group wants lead out of baby powder." San Francisco Examiner, November 19, 1999 Accessed March 8, 2015
  12. ↑ Jennifer Yu Sacro, "Proposition 65 and Food: You Have Now Been Warned." American Bar Association Business Law Today, May/June 2009. Accessed March 8, 2015
  13. ↑ State of California Office of the Attorney General, "Attorney General Lockyer Announces Settlement With Hershey and Mars Subsidiaries To Reduce Lead In Mexican Candy Popular with Children." Press release, June 29, 2006. Accessed March 8, 2015
  14. ↑ Candace Heckman, "Lead risk cited for toy jewelry sold in vending machines." Seattle Post Intelligencer, July 8, 2004. Accessed March 16, 2015
  15. ↑ Janine Defao, "71 firms agree to sell kids' jewelry with reduced lead." San Francisco Chronicle, January 28, 2006. Accessed March 16, 2015
  16. ↑ Marc Lifsher, "Toy may have high lead level." Los Angeles Times, October 11, 2007. Accessed March 16, 2015
  17. ↑ Douglas Fischer, "Nonprofit finds big problems in kids' products." Oakland Tribune/Inside Bay Area, February 3, 2008. Accessed March 16, 2015
  18. ↑ Mike Lee, "Landmark toxics law celebrates 25 years." U-T San Diego, July 23, 2011. Accessed March 16, 2015
  19. ↑ jane Kay, "Lawsuit claims lead levels in purses too high." San Francisco Chronicle, June 25, 2009. Accessed March 16, 2015.
  20. ↑ Lisa Fletcher, "Lead Found in Women's Handbags." ABC News, January 22, 2010. Accessed March 16, 2015
  21. ↑ Linda Doell, "Wal-Mart, Macy's, other retailers agree to cut lead in purses, belts and shoes." Daily Finance, June 4, 2010. Accessed March 16, 2015
  22. ↑ Elisabeth Leamy, "Purses With Lead Sold at Popular Retailers, Consumer Group Finds." ABC News, June 20, 2012. Accessed March 16, 2015
  23. ↑ Deborah Blum, "Fashion at a Very High Price." New York Times, December 20, 2013. Accessed March 16, 2015
  24. ↑ Allison Aubrey, "Coke Changed Caramel Color To Avoid Cancer Warning; Pepsi In Transition." National Public Radio, July 3, 2013. Accessed March 16, 2015
  25. ↑ Amy Westervelt, "Target, Walmart, Babies-R-Us Sued Over Toxic Baby Products." Forbes, December 6, 2012. Accessed March 16, 2015
  26. ↑ Stephanie Lee, "Toxic nap mats draw suit in Oakland." San Francisco Chronicle, February 19, 2013. Accessed March 16, 2015
  27. ↑ "California Prop 65 flame retardant lawsuit settlement reached." Chemical Watch, January 29, 2014. Accessed via google news, March 16, 2015
  28. ↑ Gary Cohn, "Flame Retardant Bill Wins Important Industry Support." Capital and Main, August 25, 2014. Accessed March 16, 2015
  29. ↑ "Governor Signs Leno Bill Informing Consumers about Flame Retardant Chemicals in Furniture." Senator Mark Leno news release, September 30, 2014. Accessed March 16, 2015.
  30. ↑ Gregg P. Macey, et al. "Air concentrations of volatile compounds near oil and gas production: a community-based exploratory study." Environmental Health 2014, 13:82 October 30, 2014. Accessed March 16, 2015
  31. ↑ Allen Neuhauser, "Study Links Fracking to Infertility, Miscarriages, Birth Defects." US News & World Report, December 5, 2014. Accessed March 16, 2015
  32. ↑ Michele Chandler, "Center for Environmental Health crusades." San Francisco Business Times, June 13, 2010. Accessed March 16, 2015

External links

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