WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today introduced the Environmental Protection for Children Act, which addresses the greater vulnerability of children to environmental pollutants. Among other provisions, the bill will tighten the federal programs that regulate hazardous chemicals and environmental pollutants, require manufacturers of children’s products to publish lists of potentially harmful substances in their products, provide grants for testing schools and day care centers for contamination and cleaning up any potential sources of pollution, and encourage states to enact laws ensuring that schools and day care centers are not opened on contaminated sites.

“I believe that our environmental laws need to first and foremost protect the most vulnerable members of our society,” said Menendez. “We as a nation have assiduously acted to protect our children from many of the dangers that they face every day, but we have dropped the ball when it comes to making sure that the places where they spend their days are free from contamination. This legislation will ensure that we do all we can to protect our children from environmental pollutants.”

The senator referenced Kiddie Kollege day care center as just one example of the need for a property to be tested for environmental contamination prior to opening as a center for children. Kiddie Kollege opened at the site of a former thermometer factory in Franklin Township, New Jersey without being tested for pollutants, exposing children and employees to dangerous levels of mercury.

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