(Sacramento) Consumers, environmental health advocates, health professionals, and firefighters applauded Governor Jerry Brown’s new fire safety regulation today, issuing this statement. The draft language of TB 117-2013 was posted for a 45-day public comment period today, and aims to improve fire safety without the use of toxic flame retardant chemicals linked to neurodevelopmental impairment, infertility, and cancer.
A bill to modernize Technical Bulletin 117 or TB 117, an ineffective California flame retardant standard that has led to the use of chemicals in foam for furniture and other products throughout the country known to be harmful to human health, was introduced today in the California Legislature.
A UCSF study published in Environmental Science and Technology today shows the highest reported level of flame retardant chemicals in California pregnant women. PBDEs can disrupt the thyroid system and have been linked to neurodevelopmental problems in children following prenatal exposure
Last night, eight California State Senators, charged with supporting business, jobs and economic development for California voted against a measure that would provide green business opportunities and improve fire safety for the state as well as curb global exposure to illness-causing chemicals.
On February 1, Executive Director Martha Dina Argüello joined State Senator Mark Leno, fire scientists, environmental advocates, and public health leaders, at a press conference in Sacramento on Tuesday, where new legislation was announced that will create an alternative fire safety standard in California.
