Malloy Vetoes First Bill Of 2013; Would Have Required Regulations And Safety/Certification Standards For Spray Foam Insulation

Would you do anything to protect your child from death and serious injury? Take a few minutes and read the following. Connecticut has led the nation in environmental and chemical regulations and tried to protect consumers from inept, untrained, and negligent Spray Polyurethane Foam applicators.

So, what went wrong last Monday?

CT HB 5908 would have been the first state to protect consumers from untrained, inept, and negligent Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF) applicators by establishing standards of applicator certification and regulating the spray polyurethane foam insulation industry.  The EPA warns that asthma in schoolchildren has been caused by exposure and off-gassing from Spray Foam Insulation.  SPF principle component - isocyanate - is one of the most toxic and deadly chemical manufactured. 

Safety certification of SPF applicators is critical because

SPF is heavily marketed to school boards as a "green solution" to rising energy costs and applied onto and into school buildings with children present and without any safety warnings.  For more than thirty years, exposure to SPF has caused children and teachers serious and permanent respiratory and brain injury, and is known to cause cancer.  And yet, SPF industry claims their product programs leads to Healthy Schools for Healthy Children. Perhaps Governor Malloy wants us to believe that line as well. 

Application of SPF on Long Beach Schools in Mississippi 

Why is SPF so dangerous? Foam products are usually manufactured in strictly controlled factory settings. But SPF insulation is manufactured "on-site" by applicators in and on consumer's homes and businesses: attics, wall spaces, and on roofs.  Governor Malloy may not been aware that SPF also contains fire retardants, yet produces thick toxic smoke if ignited. 

Although the photos in SPF advertisements depict applicators wearing protective clothing and breathing apparatus, the photo to the left is closer to the truth. School children were present and sitting beside open windows directly below applicators.  I wonder if Governor Malloy would have allowed SPF applicators to hose down his children with toxic chemicals?

Applicator safety is protected by OSHA, but employees of businesses, homeowners and their children have no agency to protect them from the off-gassing, over-spray, and contact with deadly chemicals released by SPF application.  HB 5908 was passed unanimously by both the CT House and Senate. But why did CT Governor Dan Malloy veto Bill 5908?

Governor Malloy used an effective trick common with politicians - deception. He hid his support of the chemical industry by claiming HB 5908 didn't go far enough to protect the public health. In other words, no regulation is better than some regulation. The millions of dollars paid by chemical industries each year in dark money to bribe politicians with hidden campaign contributions paid off.  Governor Malloys veto is classic smoke and mirrors politics.  Let's look look closer at Malloy's veto.

Hair dressers are required to have safety certification and state licensing to apply hairspray. But applicators of Spray on Foam roofing and insulation containing one of the most dangerous and deadly chemicals manufactured are not required to have certification and safety licensing to spray onto and into homes, schools, and daycares?  In fact no state in the US requires safety certification of SPF applicators.  Had the governor of my state, Mississippi, passed a similar bill, I and the children at my school would not have been injured by these chemicals.

In 1985 was seriously and permanently injured by Spray Foam Insulation when a non-trained

applicator sprayed these chemicals on the Long Beach School District where I had been teaching. I was an award winning athlete and teacher until SPF applied during the school day left me and more than two dozen children and teachers fighting to breathe.

Spray foam insulation was proven to have caused my severe asthma, resulted in surgical removal of almost all my sinus tissue, scarred my lungs, burned my eyes, causing early onset cataracts, and damaged my brain and peripheral nerves. The Spray Foam industry never disputed my injuries from their product.  http://www.toxicjustice.com

The next injury from SPF in Ct will have the fingerprints of Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy.

If Governor Malloy's veto angers you, please comment on the article linked below instead of commenting on this Facebook update. Chemical lobbies are buying up politicians who pretend they are protecting the public health.

Children are harmed by chemicals and poor environment because their parents remain silent.  Despite ease and availability of texting, computer and cell phone access to the internet, responsible adults have failed to take charge of their government and the protection of public health. Its your turn to say something to change this.


Commenting is easy and does make a difference.  Please share this post. I wish someone had done this for me. 

Hartford Courant, Capital Watch <http://courantblogs.com/capitol-watch/malloy-vetoes-first-bill-of-2013-would-have-required-regulations-and-safetycertification-standards-for-spray-foam-insulation/>

Gov. Dan Malloy vetoed his first bill of 2013 on Monday, saying rather than have the state develop regulations and safety standards for spray foam insulation in homes, he would encourage installers to “obtain training, credentialing or certification under programs … developed on a national basis.”
House Bill 5908, “An Act Concerning Safety and Certification Standards for the Spray Foam Insulation Industry,” sailed through both the House and Senate without any “no” votes or controversy; the House voted 145-0 on April 24, and the Senate 34-0 on May 30. . .

Read more: http://courantblogs.com/capitol-watch/malloy-vetoes-first-bill-of-2013-would-have-required-regulations-and-safetycertification-standards-for-spray-foam-insulation/#comment-129615

Thank you,
Nancy Swan, Director of Children's Environmental Protection Alliance (Children's EPA)