Supervisor Fiona Ma: Protecting Our Children

As an elected official, it is part of my responsibility to protect and ensure the safety of all the members of our community. Children are the future for our community and our role is to provide a supportive and healthy environment for them.

So, when I found out that some children's toys and child-care products may contain chemicals harmful to our children and that California state legislation had failed to act on this important issue, I started to look into the situation.

When Assembly Bill 319, sponsored by Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, was derailed in the Assembly Appropriations Committee earlier this year, it was an easy decision for me to introduce a local version to protect our children from the toxic chemicals found in children's toys and other articles.

Under the Child Safety Product Ordinance, no product that is intended for use by a child under 3 years of age can be manufactured, sold or distributed in San Francisco if it contains bisphenol A, an ingredient in hard, clear polycarbonate plastic, or phthalate, a chemical that softens plastic.

Studies of these two chemicals have linked them to reproductive birth defects, early onset of puberty, asthma, reduced testosterone in boys, obesity, behavioral problems, increased cancer cell growth and impaired immune function, even in low doses.

While state and federal regulatory agencies have yet to weigh-in on these chemicals, San Francisco has never been afraid to lead the country. Through this ban, we are holding true to the City's precautionary principle, which sets a standard in San Francisco that if there's a possibility of harm or damage, then we should err on the side of caution.

Currently, this legislation, does not include provisions for fines. The City's Department on the Environment is charged with educating retail stores about the law, outlining safer replacement products and asking for compliance.

If companies do not voluntarily comply, penalties can be added in the future. This ordinance was co-sponsored by Supervisors Sophie Maxwell and Michela Alioto-Pier and was signed into law by the mayor.

I am proud to support the leadership of Assemblywoman Wilma Chan in taking a strong stand on this problem and protecting our children. I am also proud that San Francisco is the first city in the country to ban these chemicals. I hope that San Francisco's leadership will send a wake-up call to Sacramento to reinvestigate this issue and to listen to the concerns of local communities.

Fiona Ma is a San Francisco supervisor representing District 4.