MamAnomolie

Three large chemical companies and the Environmental Protection Agency have struck a deal to phase out Decabromodiphenyl ether (Deca), a toxic flame retardant, by December of 2012. A full-fledged ban of the substance will take place a year later. Deca is commonly used in electronics as well as furniture, and is a strong neurotoxin and suspected carcinogen. Click here for more information on the ban from the Environmental Working Group.

Reading about the banning of this substance reminded me of an encounter I had a few years ago. I was doing a presentation about informed consumer choices for a group taking part in a leadership development program. These were highly educated people who were leaders in the public, private and non-profit fields. We were playing a very competitive game of Eco-Jeopardy and had come to a question about VOCs in paints and other household materials. One of the participants stopped me in the middle of my explanation of what VOCs are and some of the concerns about them and said, "Do you mean to tell me that there is a substance that is known to cause health problems and the EPA hasn't banned it?"

I just stared at him for a moment. This was one of those instances where what I wanted to say was nowhere close to what I had to say. I was utterly taken aback that he actually believed all health impairing substances had been banned. I realized as he was staring at me just as incredulously as I was staring at him that he truly believed that someone somewhere in some government agency was taking care of all of this.

In actuality, there are agencies set up to protect us, but there are a lot of out-dated laws and untested chemicals. These agencies are underfunded and face very strong lobbying opposition. There are a lot of fingers you can point to try and pinpoint who's to blame when it comes to protecting consumers, but at least one of those fingers points right back at the consumer. Companies are making what we, the consumers, demand of them.

I am a firm believer that we as consumers need to become informed and make smart decisions for ourselves. Yes, there needs to be more transparency. Yes, the people with the money have too much clout. But I still think some of the responsibility falls on the consumer to become more educated and aware of what they are buying and the impacts these choices have on themselves, other people and the environment.

So, here's to more action being taken to protect consumers from toxic substances and to becoming better informed as we vote with our dollars. I'm going to toddle my little pregnant self down off of my soapbox now.