BRUSSELS -- Despite being banned, skin lighteners with illegal levels of mercury are still being sold by some of the world’s biggest online retailers to unsuspecting consumers, according to a new Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG) report released today. More than 100 products purchased from sites including eBay and Amazon tested positive for mercury levels well above the one part per million (ppm) limit mandated by the global UN Minamata Convention and US safeguards for cosmetics. Of those products, seven contained between 2.8 to 12,418 ppm of mercury and were easily purchased from the US on eBay and delivered to a US address.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A new report released today found concerning levels of toxic PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) found in home garden fertilizer products widely sold throughout the United States. The report, based on testing conducted by the Sierra Club and the Ecology Center, found PFAS chemicals in nine fertilizers made from sewage sludge -- commonly called “biosolids” in ingredient lists -- and maps more than 30 companies selling sludge-based fertilizers and composts for home use across the US. Eight of the nine products exceed the screening guideline for PFOS or PFOA set in Maine, the state with the strictest safeguards for PFAS levels in sludge spread on agricultural lands.
WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency must take a series of steps to protect public health and the environment from the toxic fluorinated “forever chemicals” known as PFAS from being incinerated or dumped in landfills, wrote more than 30 environmental and public health organizations in comments submitted to the agency this week.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the Sierra Club and Radium Girls, are launching #StopForeverChemicals, a new social impact campaign aiming to ban toxic forever chemicals that never break down and are still used in household products today.
North Carolina (VIRTUAL- JOIN FROM ANYWHERE)— This Thursday October 22nd, North Carolina's 8th district congressional candidate Pat Timmons-Goodson will lead a roundtable on the state's PFAS and GenX water contamination crisis featuring Dark Waters actor Mark Ruffalo and several advocates from across the state. The event is open to press, will feature a question and answer portion, and dive into the candidate's platform and her campaign.
NORTH CAROLINA -- Yesterday, after years of incinerating PFAS waste, the federal government acknowledged the hazards and announced a technical challenge to design a safer way to destroy toxic fire fighting foam. The challenge will reward new technologies that can destroy at least 99 percent of the PFAS in fire fighting foam, despite EPA typically requiring even greater levels of breakdown for other highly toxic wastes. Due to PFAS chemicals’ intense toxicity and persistence, 99 percent destruction is a low bar and wastes would still contain far more PFAS than can be safely emitted into air or waterways.
Lansing, Michigan -- Yesterday, Michigan adopted the proposed PFAS Maximum Contaminant Load (MCL), which will help limit toxic PFAS chemicals in the state’s drinking water. More than two million Michiganders currently have detectable PFAS chemicals in their drinking water supply.
Lansing, MI-- Yesterday, the Michigan Environmental Rules Review Committee (ERRC) voted to allow the rule-making process to move forward on cleaning up per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the drinking water of over one million Michiganders. PFAS chemicals are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” because of how long they linger in the environment. They do not break down in the human body, and are linked to several health dangers like cancer, reproductive and immune system failures, and developmental harm in children.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, Senator Udall and Representative Lowenthal, joined by Senator Merkley and Representative Clark, released the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020, a landmark bill aimed at addressing the growing problem of plastic pollution and protecting public health by phasing out single-use plastic, holding corporate polluters accountable for the plastic waste they produce, reducing plastic packaging, and updating the current plastic recycling system. The bill would also halt the production of new plastics plants, while the EPA reexamines the impacts of plastics to air and water.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the PFAS Action Act (H.R. 535) with bipartisan support. The PFAS Action Act, introduced by Rep. Debbie Dingell and cosponsored by Reps. Fred Upton and Dan Kildee, will require the EPA to protect military families and our nation’s drinking water by designating all per- and poly-fluoroalkl substances (PFAS) as hazardous within one year of the bill becoming law, add the chemicals to the Clean Air Act, and authorize millions of dollars for research and water treatment.
Washington, DC-- Today, President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included several important provisions to that address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pollution. The new bill requires the military to stop using PFAS in firefighting by 2024, funds research into the extent of PFAS water contamination, and will study PFAS exposures among military firefighters, among other provisions.
San Jose, CA-- Today, the Sierra Club, Zero Mercury Working Group and The Beautywell Project called on eBay to permanently remove the skin lightening products on their website that contain illegal levels of mercury.