Families nationwide are face growing health and cost pressures
Across the country, families are facing rising and unpredictable costs in almost every aspect of their daily lives.
At the same time, as families struggle with rising costs, many are also confronting a growing and unsettling reality: toxic chemicals and plastics are showing up in everyday essentials, from food packaging to drinking water.
Public concern is broad and bipartisan
Families are tired of being told everything is fine while their kids get sicker, rates of chronic disease rise, and toxic exposures continue to increase.
Recent polling shows deep concern across the country about the health impacts of chemicals and plastics:
Research increasingly links chemical exposures and rising rates of illness
Peer-reviewed studies increasingly connect the rise of toxic and untested chemicals to concerning disease trends over the past few decades, including:
Strong support for more government protections
Voters are frustrated that weak regulations allow chemical companies to sell and profit from hazardous chemicals that make people sick, while taxpayers are left to bear the health consequences and cleanup costs.
There is strong support from across the political spectrum for leaders who will:
- Put health first
- Reduce toxic exposures
- Hold polluters accountable
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The problem: Health protections haven’t kept pace
Everyone deserves to live in a world where our health comes first.
Yet today, despite evidence of serious health harms, some companies continue to make and use harmful chemicals and plastics, exploiting weak, unenforced, or outdated rules. These chemicals end up in neighborhoods, food, drinking water, air, consumer products, and workplaces.
Plastics, PFAS, and toxic chemicals are hurting families and communities
Across the country, communities face preventable threats to their health from PFAS “forever chemicals,” plastics, and other toxic chemicals linked to cancer, infertility, and other serious diseases.
The harm is not shared equally
Communities living near chemical or plastic manufacturing facilities or disposal sites often face higher exposures and disease burdens. Babies and children are especially vulnerable to toxic chemicals.
Hidden costs that taxpayers can’t afford
The health and cleanup costs associated with harmful chemicals and plastics total trillions of dollars, which is borne by taxpayers, families, and local governments, not by chemical companies who caused the problem.
Data snapshot
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The solution: Health-first policies that work
The good news is that effective solutions already exist and are moving forward in many states and cities across the country, with bipartisan support from firefighters, nurses, families, and farmers.
The best solutions for protecting our health include:
Transparency: People have a right to know what they are exposed to.
People deserve clear information about the chemicals used in products and manufacturing, as well as those showing up in drinking water and food, and their potential hazards. Transparency empowers consumers, protects workers, and supports sound public health policy.
Ban the bad: Phase out the most toxic chemicals and plastics.
Some chemicals and plastics are simply too dangerous to keep using. Highly toxic chemicals and plastics should be phased out of products, packaging, manufacturing, and buildings, starting with well-documented threats such as PFAS “forever chemicals,” certain plastic additives (phthalates, bisphenols), PVC (vinyl), and toxic flame retardants.
Safer solutions: Designing a safer, healthier future for everyone.
Governments, businesses, and institutions should invest in safer alternatives to toxic chemicals and products—for example, safer PFAS-free firefighting foams are now available and effective thanks to state actions that have driven their development.
Accountability and fairness: Polluters pay
It is not fair for communities to bear the costs of toxic pollution. Polluters should be held financially responsible for the harm caused to people and the environment. Governments must also act swiftly to support impacted communities and enforce strong health protections.
