Voters agree that more protection against chemicals is needed

American voters overwhelmingly say they want the government and industry to ensure that the products they buy are free of harmful chemicals, and they’re willing to pay more for it, according to a national online poll commissioned by the Program on Reproductive Health and environment (PRHE). at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

“At a time when most issues are politically polarized, the issue of protecting people from harmful chemicals finds broad agreement among Democrats, Republicans and independent voters,” said Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research Partners, which conducted the poll.

A survey of 1,200 registered voters found general agreement the government to demand products be proven safe before they are released to the market. More than 90% of respondents support this requirement and two-thirds strongly agree with these ideas.

The survey also revealed:

• 92% of voters agree, and 63% of them strongly agree, that the government should require product safety checks before companies are allowed to put them on the market.
• 93% of voters agree and 62% strongly agree that companies should do a better job of removing harmful chemicals from consumer goods.
• 88% agree that companies should do a better job of removing plastic and plastic packaging from consumer products.
• 76% are concerned about the impact of chemicals and plastics on climate change.
• 54% say chemical regulations are not strong enough, while 21% say they are about right and 10% say they are too strong.
• 89% support (56% strongly support) the goal of the Toxic Substances Control Act to make it easier to restrict or ban harmful chemicals and better protect vulnerable populations, such as pregnant womenchildren and people living near polluting factories.
• 93% agree (57% strongly) that it is important to remove harmful chemicals from the places where we live, work and go to school, even if it increases the cost of some products, and similar numbers agree that it is important for companies to keep harmful chemicals from everyday products, even if it increases the costs of some products.

Voters are concerned about all the chemicals they were asked about in the survey, and expressed the greatest concern about chemicals that enter the body through water, food and food packaging. However, they are not sure how the chemical regulation system works. About half (49%) say chemicals in food and consumer products have been tested for safety, even though this is not true.

“People assume that what they’re buying is safe, and that’s almost always not the case,” he said Tracy J. Woodruff, Ph.D., professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences, who directs PRHE and the EaRTH Center at UCSF. “The good news is that this survey reveals stunning results support for the government to do a better job of protecting people from harmful chemicals.”

The survey was conducted from May 25 to June 5, 2022.

Additional information:
Survey methodology: Lake Research Partners designed and conducted this online survey, which ran from May 25 to June 5, 2022. The survey surveyed a total of 1,200 registered voters nationwide, including 800 base voters and additional samples of 100 black registered voters, 100 registered voters Latin America, 100 Asian Registered voters from the US Pacific Islands and 100 registered Gen-Z voters. Oversamples were designed to ensure that the results were representative of the US sample population.