Time is running out to enact Extended Producer Responsibility for Electronics!

Television broadcast signal goes digital on February 17, 2009

This doesn't mean peeople can't keep using their old sets, by purchasing (with $40 government rebate) a set-top digital converter. However, many people are using the change-over as yet another reason to buy a new flat-panel TV.
But what happens to the old discarded sets that still work? Just in time for Halloween, the Electronics TakeBack Coalition has a fun zombie movie for you...

What's New?

Taskforce on Flame Retardant Safety Convenes

Four years late is better than never! Mandated in the 2004 law that formally banned two toxic flame retardants, penta- and octa-BDE, the "New York State Taskforce on Flame Retardant Safety" is charged with evaluating the dangers posed by decaBDE held its first meeting on September 11, 2008.  Kathy Curtis was appointed to the Taskforce, which also includes academics, medical professionals, firefighters and bromine industry representatives.  See the full list here.

     Learn more about Clean New York's campaign to phase out decaBDE. 
     Take action now!

Young Children in U.S. Among World's Most Contaminated With Fire Retardants

In the first nationwide investigation of chemical fire retardants in parents and their children, Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that toddlers and pre-schoolers typically had 3 times more of the neurotoxic compounds in their blood as their mothers. The study suggests that U.S. children 1 to 4 years of age bear the heaviest burden of flame retardant contamination in the industrialized world. Clean New York co-released the report, with quotes from Assemblyman David Koon and Learning Disabilities Association staffer Heather Loukmas, both of whom had their bodies tested in last year's Is It In Us? project.
 
     See the news coverage at "In the News".  
     Read the full report.

Is Your Car Toxic? 

Clean New York co-released the Ecology Center's 2nd annual consumer guide to toxic chemicals in cars and children's car seats at www.HealthyCar.org.   Over 200 of the most popular 2008- and 2009-model vehicles and over 60 children's car seats were tested for chemicals that off-gas from parts such as the steering wheel, dashboard, armrests, seats, and carpet. These chemicals become part of the air we breathe, contributing to "new car smell" and a variety of acute and long-term health concerns. Since the average American spends more than 1.5 hours in a car every day, toxic chemical exposure inside vehicles is a major source of potential indoor air pollution. Children are the most vulnerable population since their systems are still developing.

Back to Top