Sierra Club California has been a leader in removing poisonous materials from consumer products and keeping hazardous wastes out of local garbage landfills.

We are currently working with the Department of Toxic Substances Control and the Integrated Waste Management Board on policies that will prevent pollution at its source, rather than merely trying to clean up contamination after it has occurred.

We also push our environmental agencies to vigorously enforce safeguards that are already on the books.

Toxic-Stopping Legislation: AB 1879

Five Reasons To Support AB 1879:

1. AB 1879 Protects Your Health. It would authorize the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to regulate certain chemicals of concern -- lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), phthalates, and hexavalent chromium -- in all consumer products. Studies have shown these products pose potential health risks, particularly to very young children and other sensitive populations.

2. AB 1879 Creates New Pathways To Protection. State regulators could require manufacturers to design approaches to extract the chemical of concern from the chain of commerce or other settings or restrict the use of chemicals of concern in order to avoid exposure to sensitive populations, such as children or pregnant women, or to prohibit use of the chemical.

3. AB 1879 Saves Your Tax Dollars. DTSC would also be able to require manufacturers to establish take-back programs for recycling or responsible disposal of their products. To save our tax dollars, manufacturers rather than governments should primarily bear the costs of end-of-life disposition of their products.

4. AB 1879 Protects Sensitive Populations. AB 1879 would require DTSC, in considering products for regulation, to prioritize products that are used or designed for sensitive populations (children, pregnant women, etc.), and those most likely to cause exposure of chemicals of concern to individuals or the environment.

5. AB 1879 Gives You The Right To Know. Under the provisions of AB 1879, DTSC may require that products containing one of the identified six chemicals of concern be labeled in an understandable fashion that they contain such chemicals and list the associated harmful health effects.

- AB 1879 support letter from Bill Magavern, Sierra Club California Director to Chair of Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials

Light Brown Apple Moth Spraying

- Alameda Blog: Sierra Club CA speaks out against aerial spraying in THE ISLAND

- Sierra Cub California Supports Moratorium on Aerial Spraying Designed to Eradicate the Light Brown Apple Moth

Turning Back Toxics

National Public Radio story on Sierra Club CA’s mercury thermostat bill (Priority Legislation)

Bill Magavern, Sierra Club California Director, Speaks Out On Cal-EPA’s Green Chemistry Initiative Phase One Report (January 31, 2008)

State Will Finally Clean Southern California Nuclear Meltdown Site, Thanks to Community Watchdogs, Sen. Kuehl, and Assemblymember Brownley By Collin Fisher, Research Analyst, Sierra Club California

From Capitol Weekly: "Will Schwarzenegger Put His Muscles Behind the Green Chemistry Initiative?"