LEPAGE PUTS CAMPAIGN DONORS AHEAD OF MAINE KIDS’ HEALTH

Unilaterally nixes agreement to add formaldehyde to priority chemicals list

AUGUSTA — Following reports that Governor LePage has formally withdrawn a proposal to add the toxic, cancer-causing chemical formaldehyde to the priority chemicals list under the Kids Safe Product Act, Senator Geoff Gratwick, a member of the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee issued the following statement.

“Parents deserve an opportunity to protect their kids from dangerous chemicals–and this was an easy step to ensure kids’ safety,” said Senator Geoff Gratwick of Bangor. “I don’t get why Governor LePage would go out of his way to overreach and meddle in what is clearly not of his area of expertise.  I know campaign season is upon us but I would hate to think that the governor would cast aside the best interest of children for the benefit of a GOP-benefactor.”

Despite research suggesting the dangers of BPA, particularly for children and pregnant women, in 2011, Governor LePage famously said the worst that could happen from exposure to BPA is that women would grow “little beards.”

BPA is on the priority chemicals list. Adding formaldehyde to the list would have required manufacturers to disclose which products contain formaldehyde, which has been found in common household products such as crib sheets and children’s clothing.  

Senator Gratwick who is a practicing physician added, “Formaldehyde is great for once you’re dead but for living people it’s not a good chemical. We should be protecting human health not chemical companies.”

Following lobbying efforts by by Republican donors David and Charles Koch of Koch Industries, LePage opted not to add formaldehyde to the priority chemicals list.

According to the Environmental Health Strategies Center, Koch Industries, a major U.S. producer of formaldehyde, has mounted a ten-year campaign to delay action on the cancer-causing chemical. Koch Industries is a co-founder and major funder of the Formaldehyde Panel of the chemical industry lobby, American Chemistry Council (ACC). In January 2014, the ACC Formaldehyde Panel testified in opposition to adding formaldehyde to the priority chemical list.