News Coverage
Senate OKs Bill to Ban Retardant
State would become first to prohibit chemical used in foam padding and computers
Published July 17, 2003
The state Senate on Thursday approved legislation that will make California the only state in the nation to ban toxic chemicals widely used as flame retardants that are rapidly building up in the bodies of people and wildlife around the world.
The bill, already approved by the state Assembly in May, will be sent to Gov. Gray Davis for his signature after the Assembly acts on some minor technical amendments next week. The secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, Winston Hickox, came out in favor of the legislation earlier this month, saying that in the face of federal inaction, California should ban the flame retardants because they "raise serious public health questions."