BOSTON - As the Massachusetts Legislature enters its last month before the end of formal session, the state’s leading medical organizations join environmental and public health nonprofits in calling for swift action to pass a bill to get toxic chemicals out of children’s products.
Sponsored by Senator Jo Comerford (D-Northampton) and Representative Jim Hawkins (D-Attleboro), An Act Relative to Toxic-Free Kids (H4357/ S2660) will prevent unnecessary illness by requiring manufacturers to remove toxic chemicals known to harm children from products made and marketed to children under 12.
The Toxic-Free Kids Act has been favorably reported out of the House and Senate Consumer Protection Committees but must be voted on before July 30, 2026 in order to pass into law.
Major medical institutions and associations, including Boston Children’s Hospital; Boston College Center for Global Public Health and the Common Good; American Academy of Pediatrics Massachusetts Chapter; and the Massachusetts Medical Society are calling for action, prompted by concerns about increasing rates of serious illness in children and young adults.
Dr. Alan Woolf, Co-Director of the Pediatric Environmental Health Center at Boston Children’s Hospital: “The science is clear. Certain chemicals found in everyday children’s products are linked to cancer, developmental harm, and other serious health concerns. Parents should not have to wonder whether a child’s toy, mattress, or rubber duck contains chemicals that could put their child’s health at risk. But parents can’t shoulder this burden alone. We all have a responsibility to protect kids. The Toxic-Free Kids bill empowers the Commonwealth to identify chemicals of concern in children’s products and accelerate the transition to safer alternatives. It creates a pathway to a healthier future for every Massachusetts child.”
The Toxic-Free Kids Act:
- Bans toxic per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in children’s products;
- Requires transparency by requiring manufacturers of children’s products to submit biannual reports, disclosing toxic chemicals in items they sell or distribute in Massachusetts;
- Establishes a process to remove the most harmful chemicals from children’s products. It requires the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to identify chemicals that are both toxic and already accumulating in people’s bodies, household dust, and/or drinking water. These chemicals must be removed from children’s products within 3-5 years after being named by MADEP.
Toxic chemicals can be found in an array of children’s products, including toys; children’s mattresses, rugs; bedding; strollers, car seats; pacifiers; plates, cups and utensils; clothing; art supplies; and personal care products.
Dr. Philip Landrigan, pediatrician, epidemiologist and founding director of the Boston College Center for Global Public Health and the Common Good: “I strongly support An Act Relative to Toxic Free Kids. This legislation will reduce Massachusetts children’s exposure to toxic chemicals in consumer products. It will reduce the incidence and prevalence of non-communicable diseases in our children. It will reduce health care costs, costs of special education, and productivity losses-costs that all heavily on Massachusetts taxpayers. By preventing disease and disability in Massachusetts children, this legislation will pay for itself many times over.”
Dr. Rebecca Brendel, President of the Massachusetts Medical Society: "Scientific evidence demonstrates the serious health risks associated with PFAS exposure and as such, the Medical Society affirms our responsibility to advocate to mitigate these risks for our patients. We support this bill as a critical public health tool that can protect our youngest patients from a myriad of potentially lethal illnesses linked to PFAS. Eliminating these toxic chemicals from everyday products used by children is imperative to foster a healthier future."
Additional health care supporters are: American Nurses Association MA Chapter, Association of Nurses for Healthy Environments, Climate Code Blue, Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, Massachusetts Nurses Association, Massachusetts Public Health Alliance, Our Bodies Ourselves, Resilient Sisterhood Project, and Northeastern University’s Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute and the PFAS Project.
Environmental, civic and teacher’s groups are also in support including: Beyond Plastics Greater Boston, Clean Production Action, Clean Water Action, Community Action Works, Conservation Law Foundation, Masspirg, and Massachusetts Teacher’s Association, among others.
A larger PFAS bill, An Act to Protect Massachusetts Public Health From PFAS (H4870 /S3034), is also pending in the Massachusetts Legislature. If passed, this bill would also restrict PFAS in children’s products. Proponents of the Toxic-Free Kids Act assert, even if the broader PFAS bill passes, the Toxic-Free Kids act is also needed to tackle many other toxic chemicals in children’s products.
Other states have already taken action. The Toxic-Free Kids Act is based on successful child product safety bills already in effect in Washington State, Oregon, Minnesota and in the initial stages of implementation in New York, Maine, and Vermont also have laws requiring disclosure of toxic chemicals in children’s products.
“Children are surrounded day and night by toxic chemicals known to cause harm,” said Laura Spark, Environmental Health Program Director at Clean Water Action. “Pediatrics is prevention but keeping children safe from toxic chemicals is prevention work that only legislators can do. Clean Water Action asks the Legislature to help Massachusetts doctors and nurses do the critical work of preventing childhood and young adult illness by acting by the end of July to pass this bill to get toxic chemicals out of children’s products.”
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