Most U.S. Voters Want Products Free of Harmful Chemicals: Poll

By Sydney Murphy HealthDay Reporter

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Oct. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Do the vast majority of Americans need authorities to ensure the merchandise they purchase are freed from dangerous chemical substances?

Yes, a brand new survey reveals, and they’re even prepared to pay extra to get that assurance of security.

“At a time when most issues are politically polarized, the issue of keeping people safe from harmful chemicals finds widespread agreement among Democrats, Republicans and Independent voters,” mentioned Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research Partners, which carried out the ballot. The Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE) on the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), commissioned the survey.

More than 90% of these polled needed the U.S. authorities to require merchandise to be screened for dangerous chemical substances and confirmed protected earlier than market approval. The survey, carried out between May 25 and June 5, gathered 1,200 responses from registered American voters.

The survey discovered:

• 92% of voters agreed, and 63% of voters strongly agreed, that the U.S. authorities ought to make firms show that their merchandise are protected earlier than promoting them.
• 93% of voters agreed, and 62% strongly agreed, that firms ought to do a greater job of eliminating dangerous chemical substances from shopper merchandise.
• 88% of voters agreed that firms ought to do a greater job of taking plastics out of shopper merchandise and decreasing their use of plastic packaging.
• 76% of the Americans who took the survey mentioned they have been nervous about how chemical substances and plastics contribute to local weather change.
• 54% of these polled mentioned that chemical laws are usually not sturdy sufficient, whereas 21% mentioned they’re about proper and 10% mentioned they’re too sturdy.
• The Toxic Substances Control Act makes it simpler to restrict or ban dangerous chemical substances to higher defend susceptible individuals like pregnant girls, kids and individuals who dwell close to factories which can be polluting the encircling space: 89% of voters supported the act, and 56% of them strongly supported it.
• 93% of voters agreed, and 57% strongly agreed, that you will need to do away with dangerous chemical substances the place individuals dwell, work and go to highschool, even when it makes some merchandise costlier. An identical quantity agreed that it is vital for firms to maintain dangerous chemical substances out of on a regular basis merchandise, even when it will increase the price of the merchandise.
• Voters have been nervous about the entire chemical substances requested about within the survey, however they have been most involved about chemical substances that they ate, drank or breathed in. Still, they didn’t know the way the system for regulating chemical substances works.
• About half of individuals (49%) mentioned that the chemical substances in meals and shopper items have been examined to ensure they’re protected, which isn’t true.

“People assume that what they buy is safe, and that almost always isn’t the case,” mentioned Tracey Woodruff, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences who directs the PRHE at UCSF. “The good news is this survey reveals overwhelming support for the government to do a better job of protecting people from harmful chemicals.”

More data

The Environmental Working Group has extra about chemical substances in shopper merchandise.

 

SOURCE: University of California, San Francisco, information launch, Oct. 11, 2022