{"id":9031,"date":"2024-11-19T18:01:34","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T18:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www-prod.greenpeace.org\/usa\/?page_id=9031"},"modified":"2025-09-23T10:29:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:29:11","slug":"toxics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/usa\/toxics\/","title":{"rendered":"Toxics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\"Marshall<\/figure>
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Living toxic-free<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Creating a world free from harmful toxins in our environment and in our lives.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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We\u2019re working towards a toxic-free future for all<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We all deserve to live our lives free of the harmful impacts of toxic chemicals. Whether by pushing for safer chemical plants or detoxing the clothing we wear every day, we\u2019re working towards a toxic-free future for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toxic chemicals have no place in our homes, our clothes, or our food. And yet there they are, polluting our water, air and soil and threatening our health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toxic emissions from chemical plants, waste dumped into our water sources, and the chemicals in our clothing are all unseen but serious threats to our well-being. For the one in three Americans living in close proximity to hazardous chemical facilities, the threat of a major disaster looms large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting people from the harmful impacts of toxic chemicals is key for the health and safety of communities everywhere. That\u2019s why we\u2019re fighting locally and globally to remove toxic chemicals from the lives of millions.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"PVC<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Chemical<\/figure>
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The Time Is Now to Stop Chemical Disasters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Roughly 110 million Americans live, work, and go to school in a potential chemical disaster zone \u2014 466 chemical facilities each threaten more than 100,000 Americans, and at least one in every three schoolchildren<\/a> attends school near a chemical facility. There have been more than 355 chemical incidents<\/a> since the fertilizer explosion in West, Texas in April 2013 that killed 15 people and injured more than 200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the solutions for safer chemical facilities exist, and we can achieve them without sacrificing jobs<\/a>. As of 2010, 554 chemical plants have changed their practices, swapping in safer chemicals and adopting new safety procedures. Thousands of facilities, however, still lag behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our goal is to protect all communities from the preventable horror of a chemical disaster.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

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Detoxing Industry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The multi-billion dollar corporations that produce our clothing are some of the biggest polluters out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every year, the fashion industry pollutes waterways in places like Mexico, China, and Indonesia by using hazardous chemicals in the manufacturing plants. Those same toxic chemicals are present in our clothes, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2011, we\u2019ve challenged some of the world\u2019s most popular clothing brands to work with their suppliers to stop the flow of toxic chemicals into our waterways. Already, companies like Nike, Adidas, H&M, and more have signed on. Will your favorite retailer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toxic chemical pollution affects all of us, but it has the most devastating effects on disadvantaged communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too often, those with the fewest resources to protect themselves are the ones exposed to harmful pollution. In the United States, low-income communities and communities of color are statistically more likely to live in the country\u2019s most polluted neighborhoods. In fact, the poverty rate in the communities living closest to chemical facilities is 50 percent higher<\/a> than the national average. And at the global level, it\u2019s often developed countries and their industries that dump their hazardous waste in the developing world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to take advantage of the opportunities we have right now to create a toxic-free world. We\u2019re campaigning to eliminate the risk of major chemical disasters across the country and to end toxic industrial pollution across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that sounds like the future you want, join us! Check out the links below to learn how we\u2019re making a difference and how you can join the movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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Learn more about…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A controlled burn of oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon\/ oil spill sends towers of fire hundreds of feet into the air over the Gulf of Mexico.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Preventing chemical disasters<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\"PVC
Greenpeace action against Louisiana’s polluting vinyl (PVC) production facilities, USA.
\u00a9 Greenpeace \/ John Novis<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Going PVC free<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\"Toxics
A worker sorts through a pile of e-waste, Longgang, China. Much of modern electronic equipment contains toxic ingredients. Vast amounts are routinely and often illegally shipped as waste from Europe, USA and Japan to countries in Asia as it is easier and cheaper to dump the problem on poorer countries with lower environmental standards. This practise exposes the workers and communities involved in dismantling e-waste to serious, environmental problems, danger and health hazards. Greenpeace is strongly urging major manufactures to exclude toxic materials from their products.
\u00a9 Greenpeace \/ Natalie Behring<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Green electronics<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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Industrial pollution<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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Related news and stories<\/h2>\n
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