For the Gentlemen: Jessica Alba on the Hill This Week

     Actress Jessica Alba, preggers and all, will be lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and Wednesday for passage of the Safe Chemicals Act.  The Fantastic Four star will be representing Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families,  a coalition of parents, health professionals, environmentalists, businesses, and other advocates concerned about the presence of toxic chemicals in homes, places of work, and everyday products. 

     Alba's interest in this issue arose when she was pregnant with her first child Honor and learned about toxic plastics used to make baby bottles, brain toxins in children’s toys, carcinogens in cleaning products, hormone-disrupting chemicals and many other dangerous poisons that children are exposed to on a regular basis. 

     The Safe Chemicals Act (S.847), introduced in April by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), seeks to overhaul the outdated Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.  Specifically, the Act would:

• Require EPA to identify and restrict the “worst of the worst” chemicals, those that persist and build up in the food chain;
• Require basic health and safety information for all chemicals as a condition for entering or remaining on the market;
• Reduce the burden of toxic chemical exposures on people of color and low-income and indigenous communities;
• Upgrade scientific methods for testing and evaluating chemicals to reflect best practices called for by the National Academy of Sciences; and
• Generally provide EPA with the tools and resources it needs to identify and address chemicals posing health and environmental concerns.

     The Act is co-sponsored by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Al Franken (D-MN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY).  For more information and updates on the legislation, go here.

Update: Video of Jessica Alba interview on the Hill here.