MEC staff works to protect Michigan's children. Read about:
THE SITUATION
More than ever before, children enter our environment under assault by a sea of pollutants, from asthma-inducing smog, toxic runoff and pharmaceutical chemicals that carry risks as well as rewards. Exposures to such toxics are especially dangerous to young children and fetuses whose developing bodies and unique metabolism, sensitivity and behavior place them at special risk of physical and mental impairments from pollution.
And it’s not just a health problem. It’s also a heavy drag on the economies of the country, the state, businesses and families who are socked with skyrocketing health care costs and lost productivity as the symptoms of pollution manifest themselves throughout a lifetime.
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SOLUTIONS ACHIEVED IN 2006
Tough New Mercury Reductions
Years of tireless work, both publicly and behind the scenes with Lansing power brokers, paid big dividend in 2006 with Gov. Granhom’s decision to reduce dangerous mercury emissions from Michigan power plants by 90 percent by 2015. The momentum from that February decision continued throughout the year, with legislative victories banning the sale of some mercury-containing medical products and a federal decision to recover and recycle mercury from automobile switches.
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GOALS FOR 2007
Battle for Lindane Ban
MEC lobbied for a ban on the dangerous pesticide lindane, a neurotoxin that has been outlawed in 52 countries and for use on U.S. crops, but still is used to treat lice and scabies on vulnerable children in Michigan.
Effort to Reduce Lawn Pesticides
MEC worked with allies to push for state rules requiring more careful use of harmful lawn pesticides and better notification of the risks and use of the chemicals. Such routine applications, especially at schools and day care centers, are often excessive and unnecessary, endangering the health of children.
Pushing for Dioxin Cleanup
MEC continued pushing the Granholm administration to pick up the glacial pace of state-mandated cleanup of decades-old dioxin contamination throughout the Tittabawassee and Saginaw Bay watersheds. The Dow Chemical Company danger has lurked, largely unaddressed, increasing the levels of the hormone-disrupting carcinogen in wild game, fish and human beings who are exposed to or ingest the chemical.
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