On December 2, 2013 the American daily news paper Portland Press Herald reports that a new chemical bill, which would have placed mercury, arsenic, cadmium and formaldehyde on the list of priority chemicals, was rejected by the Maine Senate. The bill, which had been resisted by the LePage administration for 3 years, lists many chemicals that are already being phased out from consumer products. Together with the Democrats, environmental health groups such as Environmental Health Strategies and the alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine have been pushing for a Kids Safety Law. They consider that the bill now presented was a sham in order to gain votes in the upcoming elections, and insufficient regulation for protecting children’s health. A bill proposed by the Democrats that would have placed phthalates on the priority chemical list had seen its demise earlier in 2013.
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Steve Mistler (December 2, 2013). “State House Notebook: Alfond denies Medicaid votes-chemical bill trade”. Portland Press Herald
