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What's in a label? Chance for healthy choices, many say
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July 06, 2009 | 01:49 PM
What's really in that spray cleaner sitting on your kitchen counter? Could it be harmful and even deadly to kids?
Consumers have no way of knowing, Rep. Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills) said. That's why he is calling for legislation that would require companies to label all the harmful or dangerous chemical ingredients on household products, including cleaners, paint and pesticides.
His Household Product Labeling Act 2009 or H.R. 3057, introduced on June 25 and then referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, would be enforced through the Consumer Product Safety Commission in much the same way that the Federal Drug Administration oversees labeling requirements on food packages.
"The federal government requires that all ingredients be included in food labels..." Israel said July 6 in a Plainview shopping center. "The fact of the matter is that virtually all of the household cleaning products we use do not have a requirement to list potentially harmful chemicals. You breathe this, you smell this, you ingest it — and yet there is no labeling requirement."
Israel added, "Petroleum distillates could cause damage to lung tissue and nerve cells. You have the right to know if your cleaning product contains petroleum distillates. … You have the right to know but there's no way to know because these chemicals are not included in the labeling of these products. You eat a Twinkie — you know exactly what you're eating. You breathe in some X14 — you have no idea what you're breathing."
Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) agreed, saying, "When it comes to household chemicals and cleaning agents, what you don't know can truly hurt you. This bill will help protect consumers and hold manufacturers accountable for what they are putting in our homes."
Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, of Farmingdale, also supports the legislation. "There are many hidden chemicals in … cleaning agents that are really linked to very serious ailments, everything from hormone mimicking agents to chemicals that induce and exasperate asthma, to chemicals that cause throat and nose irritation, dizziness," Esposito said. "It's a long list of chemicals that has myriad health problems associated with them and the public is not fully aware of that. And how can they be aware of chemicals that are hidden, not labeled?"
But it's not only a human health issue, Esposito said. Many of these chemicals pass through our wastewater treatment facilities and our septic systems and end up in our groundwater and into the marine environment.
Karen Joy Miller, president of the Huntington Breast Coalition, opined that the public should change the way it consumes products. "Pick up the product, read the ingredient label now," she advised. "Familiarize yourself with chemicals that can harm your children and your family. Then look and see what the claims are."
Miller noted that many companies are eliminating toxic ingredients from their products and have found safer alternatives. "The advocacy group will be getting those names out. We're going to be creating a 'good guys' list."
The new legislation should require labels to include the word 'warning,'" Miller said. "There has to be something that's put in the language that's easy for a sixth-grade reader to understand."
Holding up a bottle of house cleaner, Israel noted with irony that the First Aid chart on the existing label suggests that the person have the product container with them when calling the poison control center. "If you don't know what's in it, how are you going to [tell] the poison control center? It's ludicrous."
Laura Weinberg, president of the Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition, noted that product labeling may be of particular concern to women; those who are sensitive to estrogen should not be exposed to extra estrogen or alkylphenol ethoxylates, also known as "APEs." She said, "These particular chemicals are not only in detergents but also in stain removal products, floor cleaners. Women need to know; they're going to great lengths to try to remove estrogen from all different areas of their lives..."
As one of Israel's legislative priorities, H.R. 3057 won't pass quickly or easily, as industry lobbyists are already waging campaigns against it, he claims.
While his organization agrees with the premise of Israel's legislation about giving consumers more information about product ingredients, Chris Cathcart, president of The Consumer Products Association, a trade association representing household product manufacturers and distributors with $80 billion in annual U.S. sales, stated that he has issues with the current draft of the bill.
"We believe the current laws governing the point of purchase label provides to the consumer the most important information, and that additional detail on the product label, as proposed ... could deter consumers from these very important product instructions on safe use and disposal," Cathcart said.
Israel said, "The industry will find every loophole they can to protect their products. I just want one piece of legislation that's going to protect the consumers. And that's why we're not going to wait for their voluntary compliance."
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