from a press release:

REP PERONE: CT HOUSE PASSES BAN OF CADMIUM IN CHILDREN’S PRODUCTS

State Representatives Chris Perone (D-Norwalk)�announced that�the Connecticut House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation that will�prohibit the sale, manufacturing, and distribution of children’s jewelry that contains cadmium.

Connecticut�currently bans packaging and packaging components that use cadmium from being sold or used for promotional purposes. However, the law is silent when it comes to using the same chemical in the actual products. Today’s bill (HB 5314) specifically bans cadmium in jewelry made for children under age 12.

“Cadmium is a known cancer causing agent and it is completely unacceptable to allow children to be exposed to this highly toxic metal” said Rep. Perone. “Under current law, the use of cadmium in packaging is banned. Yet we permit the sale of cheap costume jewelry loaded with cadmium to be sold to our children. Today we changed that law and our children are safer because of it.”

Cadmium is a metal used in electroplating, pigments, and plastic that can have adverse health impacts in humans, especially children. It is currently ranked seventh on the U.S. Department of Public Health and Human Services priority list of 275 hazardous substances. It is a known carcinogen and has been shown to cause developmental problems in young children. The Chairwoman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recently advised parents not to allow young children to be given or to play with cheap metal jewelry due to concerns over cadmium.

In the past year, there have been a number of incidents where children’s jewelry has been recalled due to their high levels of cadmium, including Wal-Mart’s January recall of 55,000 children’s necklaces made in�China.

“We applaud the House for passing health-protective limits on cadmium in children’s jewelry,” said Sarah Uhl, Coordinator of the Coalition for a Safe & Healthy CT. “We urge the Senate to approve this bill and keep our state at the forefront of efforts to move away from known toxic hazards and toward protecting future generations from serious and unnecessary harm.”

Several other states have moved in the direction of banning or limiting use of the substance, including�Washington�and�California.��The ban of cadmium has also been taken up in the legislatures of the following states:Florida,�Illinois,�Minnesota,�Mississippi,�New Jersey, and�New York. The bill now goes to the State Senate for consideration.

From a press release:

State Representative Chris Perone today called for legislation that would ban cadmium in jewelry products intended for children in the state of Connecticut.

“Cadmium is an extremely toxic, cancer-causing metal that experts have called “poison.” Yet this metal has found its way into jewelry for children. Prolonged exposure has been shown to lead to damage to the central nervous system and, in a recent study by the University of Cincinnati medical school, was shown to lower IQ more than lead.� This is completely unacceptable.” said Rep. Perone.� “As any parent with very young children will tell you, infants and toddlers explore their world by putting things in their mouths. And it is through this way that children can be exposed to continual low-level doses through sucking or biting jewelry with high amounts of cadmium.”

As part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, cadmium in paint is banned from children’s toys, but the law doesn’t address cadmium in jewelry, which is how these pendants and other trinkets reach the market.

Representative Perone called for the legislation after a recent report by the Associated Press (AP) found that Chinese manufacturers have been substituting cadmium for lead to make inexpensive charm bracelets and pendants that are being sold by retailers through the United States.

“The jewelry tested contained so much cadmium that if it were industrial garbage, it would qualify as hazardous waste. But because there are no cadmium restrictions on jewelry, these items are sold legally in the United States.” said Representative Perone.

Among the items tested by the AP were “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” charms on bracelets.� The charms were manufactured almost entirely of cadmium – measuring between 82 and 91 percent cadmium when tested.

Cadmium is a known carcinogen, which can hinder brain development in children and cause kidney, lung and intestinal damage.� The metal ranks number seven on the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of 275 most hazardous substances in the environment.� Children are most likely to be exposed to cadmium poisoning by sucking on and/or biting the affected jewelry, or by swallowing it.

Perone added, “Children can’t be expected to keep themselves out of harms way so it is up to us to take action and protect them from the things that can endanger them the most.”

For Connecticut’s economy to thrive, legislators need to figure out how to leverage our existing infrastructure to move people, goods and services around the state. The future is in bits and bytes. So it is nice to see when at least one legislator gets it, and doubly so when it’s a Norwalk legislator. Chris Perone has been pitching the 21st century future to his fellow legislators in Hartford for quite some time. This is the latest effort.

From a press release:
REP. PERONE ANNOUNCES FEDERAL FUNDS FOR BROADBAND MAPPING

State Representative Chris Perone (D-Norwalk) announced Connecticut will
receive $1.8 million of federal stimulus money to increase broadband
availability.

“This is very good news for the state of Connecticut because it will
further increase broadband access for all its citizens, benefit existing
businesses, and demonstrate to companies looking to move to Connecticut
that our state is developing the IT infrastructure that they are looking
for,” Rep. Perone stated.

The Connecticut Broadband Internet Coordinating Council (CBICC) applied,
along with the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) for federal
stimulus dollars to map out and develop our statewide broadband
capability.

Rep. Perone added, “To remain competitive, I believed that Connecticut
needed to have a plan to expand broadband deployment and adoption, and
to that end I introduced a bill to create the Broadband Internet
Coordinating Council (the “BICC”) in 2007.”

Notification came today from the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA) that CBICC and DPUC’s efforts yielded
$1.3 million to develop an interactive statewide map displaying the
availability of broadband Internet service and an additional $500,000
for developing a state broadband plan.

Rep. Perone is Vice Chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the
Commerce and Transportation Committees.