The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow (AHT)
A broad coalition in Massachusetts working to pass laws and policies that prevent harm to our health from toxic chemicals. Our top priorities are to create a groundbreaking program in Massachusetts to systematically replace toxic chemicals with safer alternatives that are better for workers and the environment, and to compel the Massachusetts Department of Health to use its authority to protect the health of children and vulnerable adults from the toxic chemical bisphenol A. Please join the effort.
Playing on Poison: Toxic Chemicals in Children's Furniture
Posted on Nov 20, 2013BOSTON—Independent testing commissioned by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH), with support of the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, has released a report on harmful flame retardant chemicals found in children’s chairs, couches and other kids’ furniture purchased from major retailers throughout the U.S. and Canada. A children’s chair purchased from Target in Kingston, Massachusetts was found to contain the toxic flame retardant TCPP. In response, advocates and parents are calling for the Massachusetts legislature to require that companies make safer products.
The products that were found to contain flame retardants were specifically marketed to children with colorful designs and popular children’s characters such as Dora the Explorer and Spiderman. It is well established by fire safety scientists that these chemicals linked to cancer, hormone disruption, infertility and other health problems do not actually prevent fires.
Chem Fatale
Posted on Nov 6, 2013
Would you be surprised to learn that feminine care products--like tampons, pads, douches, wipes, and sprays—can contain hazardous ingredients? And these toxic chemicals are coming into contact with some of the most absorptive tissue on women’s bodies!
Our partners at Women’s Voices for the Earth just released a new report, Chem Fatale: Potential Health Effects of Toxic Chemicals in Feminine Care Products, which examines unregulated toxic chemicals in feminine care products that may result in serious health problems, like increased risk of breast cancer, reproductive problems, asthma, and allergic reactions. Chemicals of concern commonly used in feminine care products include carcinogens, reproductive toxins, endocrine disruptors, and allergens.
Don't miss! Unacceptable Levels Film Screening
Posted on Nov 5, 2013
Come join us on November 21st to see the new groundbreaking documentary Unacceptable Levels play at UMass Lowell! There will be a reception at 5:30 followed by the movie at 6pm. After the film, we'll get to hear from a panel including two local heroes who are featured in the film:
- Dr. Joel Tickner, Associate Professor of Community Health & Sustainability at UMass Lowell;
- Dr. Richard Clapp, Adjunct Professor at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production and retired Boston University Professor of Public Health; and
- Amy Canon, Co-Founder of Beyond Benign;
- Elizabeth Saunders, Massachusetts Director of Clean Water Action
National Stroller Brigade for Safe Chemicals 2013
Posted on Nov 4, 2013
Tuesday October 29th was a huge day for the fight against toxic chemicals. Hundreds of women, men and children from all over the country came together in Washington D.C. for the second National Stroller Brigade for Safe Chemicals. Many mothers with their young children and babies in tow traveled from as far as Alaska to raise awareness and lobby against weak toxic chemical policies in congress. The event was organized by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families a coalition of over 11 million individuals and hundreds of diverse groups from across the nation all coming together to express their concerns about the toxic chemicals we’re exposed to in our environment. The message of the Stroller Brigade was clear; we need Congress to pass a strong, meaningful law that protects the public from the thousands of toxic chemicals we are exposed to every day.
A dynamic team of 4 women and one child (pictured on the right) traveled from Massachusetts to join the stroller brigade. Eugenia Gibbons who leads a strong mom network for Boston and lives in Revere came with her adorable 15 month old Sylvie. Lori Alper, a nationally recognized mom blogger; active Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families campaigner and mother of four came from Medford. We were also joined by Cheryl Durr Patry a mother of four who leads Medfield Green Moms and Madeleine Doggett a Northeastern University student and Clean Water Action intern currently living in Boston. These women, greatly concerned about environmental exposures to toxic chemicals especially in children and other particularly vulnerable communities took Washington by storm. They visited the offices of Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Edward Markey, Representative Michael Capuano and Representative Joe Kennedy to express their concerns about our chemical laws.
Read more...Pink ribbon mania: Can we shop our way out of breast cancer?
Posted on Oct 17, 2013
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S. in her lifetime—that is 250,000 women each year. Every year 40,000 women die from breast cancer in the U.S. Breast cancer is an epidemic and the disease needs to be stopped before it starts. October is national breast cancer awareness month, which means pink ribbons as far as the eye can see, but how much are these pink ribbons really helping the cause? Since the national pink ribbon campaign began, have breast cancer rates decreased at all?
The first breast cancer ribbon was peach, not pink, made by a woman named Charlotte Haley to campaign for the National Cancer Institute to increase funding for breast cancer prevention research. Haley was approached by Estée Lauder to use the peach ribbon to market cosmetic products, but Haley refused, fearing that the ribbon would be used for profit. That is when Estée Lauder changed the color to pink and the national marketing campaign began. You can now find the pink ribbon on an array of products, but consumers should be aware that there is no regulation of which products can advertise with a pink ribbon. In fact, many corporations are selling pink ribbon products which themselves contain chemicals linked to cancer, a marketing ploy referred to by some as “pinkwashing.” There are 80,000 chemicals produced in the U.S. every year, of which only 200 have been properly tested for human safety
