Consumer Protection
Household Product Labeling
Consumers use billions of pounds of cleaning and other household products every year. Cleaning the house means spraying tile and counter cleaners around the kitchen and bathroom and washing clothes and dishes in detergents. As it now stands, consumers have little to no information about the chemicals contained in these products and there is no legal requirement for full ingredient labeling. 
Some all-purpose cleaners include monoethanolamine, a surfactant linked to asthma. Phthalates, which have been linked to a list of adverse problems including reduced sperm count in adult men and allergies and asthma in children, are used as fragrance carriers in detergents and glass cleaners. A study by Environmental Working Group testing air emissions from 21 products found a total of 457 air contaminants, including known carcinogens. When used as directed, a popular disinfectant powder cleanser produced 146 air contaminants. The fumes contained formaldehyde, benzene, chloroform, and four other chemicals that are known carcinogens and reproductive toxins.
Rep. Israel has introduced the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act (H.R.3457) so that finally consumers can get all the facts about the products used at home and at work. The Cleaning Product Right to know Act will require manufacturers of cleaning products to include a comprehensive and accurate list of all the ingredients clearly on the product or its packing.
Rep. Israel’s bill is endorsed by: Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments; American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; American Federation of Government Employees; Blue Green Alliance; Breast Cancer Fund; Brazilian Immigrant Center; Brazilian Women’s Group; the Breast Cancer Fund, California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative; Citizens’ Environmental Coalition; Clean and Healthy New York; CleanWell; Commmunications Workers of America; Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice; EcoStore USA; Electronics TakeBack Coalition; Empire State Consumer Project; Environmental and Public Health Consulting; Environmental Health Fund; Environmental Working Group;, Health Care Without Harm; Farmworker Association of America; GreenBlendz; Greenpeace; Health Law & Policy Institute, University of Houston Law Center; Health Professionals and Allied Employees, Local 5094 (NJ); Healthy Child, Healthy World; Hesperian Health Guides; Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition/Prevention is the Cure; Informed Green Solutions; Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy; International Brotherhood of Teamsters; International Chemical Workers Union Council/UFCW; Kentucky Environmental Foundation; Mitchell Environmental Health Associates; Mt. Sinai Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine; National Council for Occupational Safety and Health; OMB Watch; Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility; Preventing Harm Minnesota; Projects for Environmental Health, Knowledge, and Action, Inc.; Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations; University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health; Vida Verde Women’s Co-Op; WE ACT for Environmental Justice; Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health; and Women’s Health Institute.
Poison-Free Poultry
According to federal estimates, the average American adult consumes more than 60 pounds of poultry a year. However, much of this poultry contains a harmful form of arsenic from a drug added to their feed in order to make the birds grow faster and to make their meat appear artificially more pink. Inorganic arsenic has been linked to cancer, skin lesions, neurological symptoms such as headaches and delirium, diabetes, and other health problems.
The drug is called roxarsone and is an arsenic-containing antimicrobial drug. Some of the arsenic fed to chickens remains in the edible portions of the birds. Arsenic has also been found in poultry waste, where it poses environmental and human health risks during disposal. The industry claims that roxarsone only contains organic arsenic, which is not toxic. However, a study by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of 100 broiler chickens found inorganic arsenic at higher levels in those treated with roxarsone than those that were not.
The FDA regulates tolerance levels for animal drug residue. But the tolerance levels for arsenic in edible animal tissue are more than three decades old, predating the latest cancer and arsenic exposure research. Rep. Israel’s Poison-Free Poultry Act (H.R.1487) bans roxarsone for use as an additive in the U.S. food supply. Although the manufacturer of roxarsone voluntarily suspended sale of the drug in response to the FDA’s study, it is only voluntary and the company may restart its sale at any time. Further, there is no system tracking which ingredients manufacturers put in their feed.
In 2012, Maryland became the first state to ban roxarsone and Congress should follow its lead. Rep. Israel’s legislation is endorsed by Center for Biological Diversity; Center for Food Safety; Citizens Campaign for the Environment; The Clean Water Network; Food & Water Watch; Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT); Friends of the Earth; Friends of Family Farmers; Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition; The Humane Society of the United States; Illinois Citizens for Clean Air & Water; Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy; Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future; Leukemia & Lymphoma Society; National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition; Ohio Environmental Council; Organic Consumers Association; Sierra Club; Union of Concerned Scientists, and Waterkeeper Alliance.
Making Medicine Cups Safe
A recent study published in the December 2010 Journal of the American Medical Association found that 99 percent of medicine cups and dosage devices were flawed, including confusing instructions and extraneous markings. According to the FDA’s Guidance for Industry on the issue, “OTC [over-the-counter] liquid drug products in the marketplace are packaged with dosage delivery devices that bear markings that are inconsistent with the labeled dosage directions.… There have been numerous reports of accidental overdose that were attributed, in part, to markings on measured dosage cups for OTC liquid drug products that were misleading or incompatible with the labeled dosage directions for use.”
Rep. Israel has introduced new legislation called the Protecting Our Kids’ Medicine Act (H.R. 338) to impose mandatory requirements on medicine cups and dosage devices, making them easier to use and safer for our children and families. For more information on the legislation, click here.
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More on Consumer Protection
Port Washington, NY— Today, Congressman Steve Israel (D-Huntington) called on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to work with stakeholders to develop and mandate new standards for safer packaging of laundry and dishwasher detergent pods. A study published last week in the journal Pediatrics found that poison control centers received 17,230 calls in just two years (2012 and 2013) about children younger than six being exposed to the detergent in the pods.
Bethpage, N.Y.— Today, Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) visited the Bethpage Fire Department to encourage high school seniors and their families to consider fire safety measures on campus as they apply for and choose colleges. Rep. Israel also discussed his legislation to require colleges to inform students if their campus-affiliated residence is equipped with fire sprinklers. The bill was a result of hearing what the Fitzsimons Family of Commack faced when they lost their daughter, Kerry Rose, in January 2012, in an off-campus fire at Marist College.
Port Washington, NY— Today, Congressman Steve Israel (D-Huntington) called on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help Long Island as it battles a new type of mosquito, the Asian Tiger mosquito, which is known to transmit tropical diseases such as dengue fever and yellow fever. The prevalence of these mosquitoes increased an alarming 220 percent from 2010 to 2012 in samples collected in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
East Northport, NY— Today, Rep. Steve Israel (D – Huntington) announced that he’ll introduce legislation to protect seniors from identity theft and fraud. The bill would remove Social Security numbers from Medicare cards, which currently display the number. Seniors are one of the most vulnerable populations to be targeted by identity thieves, with as many as one in five seniors being hit by fraud, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Rep. Israel to Introduce Bipartisan Resolution to Designate this Week as Food Allergy Awareness Week
Oyster Bay, NY—Today, Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) announced that he introduced a bipartisan resolution in Congress expressing support for the designation of May 11-17, 2014 as Food Allergy Awareness Week. Along with supporting the goals and ideals of raising food allergy awareness, this resolution would encourage the President to issue a proclamation of support, encourage media organizations to participate and raise awareness, and reaffirm the U.S.’s commitment to research and recognize those affected by food allergies.
Huntington, N.Y.—Today, Congressman Steve Israel (D-Huntington) announced that he will introduce new legislation that would help ensure the safety of boaters. The BOATS (Boating Occupancy and Teaching Safety) Act would provide grants for localities, non-profits, and for profit companies to offer boating safety classes directly to the public and also mandate the display of capacity limits for new boats that are less than 45 feet in length.
Port Washington, NY—Today, Congressman Steve Israel (D-Huntington) announced the introduction of the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act, legislation that would require ingredient labeling for domestic, commercial and institutional cleaning products. Under current law, cleaning products are not required to disclose ingredients.
Washington, D.C.— Today, Congressman Steve Israel (D-Huntington) called on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the U.S. Department of Labor to develop safety guidelines that businesses across the county can follow to protect their workers and others from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. This request comes in the wake of a tragedy at The Legal Sea Food Restaurant in Huntington, N.Y. in which 27 people were sickened by and the restaurant manager lost his life to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Commack, NY— Today, Congressman Steve Israel (D-Huntington) announced he’ll be introducing federal legislation, the Kerry Rose Fire Sprinkler Notification Act, to require improved notifications of fire-safety systems for students and their families as they pick campus-affiliated housing at colleges and universities across the country. He was joined by the Fitzsimons Family of Commack who lost their daughter, Kerry Rose, to a fire in the house she lived in at Marist College in 2012.
Washington, D.C.— Today, Congressman Steve Israel (D-Huntington) applauded the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and the wireless industry for forging a deal to allow consumers to unlock their cell phone device in order to switch wireless carriers. Until now, most cell phones and other wireless devices came “locked” to a specific carrier, meaning that, even after consumers’ contracts were up, they were unable to switch carriers, or “unlock” their phone unless they got specific permission from the original carrier. This past June, Rep.