ECHO is one of the founding partner of the Coalition for a Safe and Healthy Conneciticut.. As a coalitin partner, ECHO is committed to the common goals of increasing awareness regarding toxins found in cleaning chemicals and establishing new government policies to prevent harm to our health from these and other toxic hazards. Rather than reacting to and fighting against one known toxin at a time, a movement is now calling for improved testing and safer alternatives wherever feasible.
This "precautionary principle" approach comes from the core of public health philosophy-that we should prevent illness through eliminating known toxins, rather than try to estimate how much illness is "acceptable".
In addition to MCS, Scientists now associate such toxic chemicals to about 200 illnesses including asthma, cancer, behavioral disorders, reproductive disorders, Parkinson, and birth defects.
ECHO has therefore joined with public and private health professionals, environmental groups, municipalities (including school districts), labor organizations, parents, faith leaders and those suffering from illness caused by chemical exposures to increase awareness among the public and policymakers of the everyday contact with these toxins.
Check this webpage regularly for the latest progress on the following proposed bills supported by the Coalition:
February 22, 2007
Senator Hartley, Representative Willis, Members of the Higher Education & Employment Advancement Committee,
ECHO was formed 15 years ago as a statewide nonprofit, advocacy, support, education and referral organization for people with Multiple Chemical Syndrome (MCS) and for others who care about its prevention. MCS a chronic disorder in which people develop increased reactions to various chemicals found in products such as pesticides, perfume, building materials, appliances, cosmetics, computers, fragrances carpets, and cleaning products.. According to studies conducted by California Department of Health in 1995 and published in Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Research Reports, 17-34 % of Americans report symptoms of chemical sensitivity.
Many people with MCS have been made ill as a result of a massive single exposure to a chemical such as a pesticides or cumulative exposures to various chemicals over time. We react physically to low levels of chemical and develop multiple and various symptoms. Depending on the chemical exposure, . we exhibit respiratory, neurological , muscular, cardio-vascular, dermal, thoracic, gastrointestinal symptoms, etc. There is no known cure for MCS and the most effective treatment found to date is avoidance of chemicals, an increasingly difficult task in today's world
In our world, most of some 80,000 chemicals that have been developed since 1945, have not been tested for their long or short term effects on our health. The problem is that adults and children have been exposed to hundreds of chemicals daily in our air, water, food and land—in their home school and work environments. .It is frequently after the fact when there is a sufficient numbers of people with a specific illness/symptoms that some corrective action is done like removing the product or chemical from the market such as dioxin, mercury, asbestos, Lead, PVC, etc.
People with MCS, childhood and adult cancers, asthma, learning and developmental disabilities, birth defects, infertility, and Parkinson’s disease are contributing to a growing epidemic of chronic diseases and disorders.. Since 2001, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has been tracking the levels of synthetic chemicals in the blood and urine of average Americans – our so-called “body burden.” These studies have found that all of us are contaminated with household and industrial chemicals and pesticides – some of which can build up (bioaccumulate) in our bodies, our blood, fat tissues, muscle, bone, brain or other organs. For example, PCBs and DDT, two persistent chemicals that have been banned for 30 years, are still found in nearly all people tested by the CDC. http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org/whatisbb.htm
As a founding member of the Coalition for a Safe and Healthy Connecticut ECHO supports Bill 7020 to establish an Innovation Institute that will help lessen the risk of people becoming ill from toxic chemicals. Many hazardous chemicals can be replaced with safer alternatives, safer substances, safer chemicals, safer manufacturing processes, and more efficient operations can all reduce hazardous substances in consumer products, at workplaces and businesses, in homes, on land, and in air, water and . By helping Replacing toxic chemicals with safer alternatives we can reduce the number of people who not only develop MCS but cancer, learning disabilities, and reproductive and neurodegenerative disorders. By helping Connecticut manufacturers make the transition to safer substances and processes, we can reduce illnesses and health care costs, improve worker, community and environmental health. The good news is that the harm caused by toxic chemicals is preventable. “Prevention is My Intention.”
Sincerely,
Carolyn Wysocki
President, ECHO
