Endocrine Disruptors in Plastics: State Policy Options
Join the League of Women Voters of New York State, Beyond Plastics, and Bedford 2030 on Tuesday, October 3, 2023 at 7pm ET on Zoom for a conversation about endocrine disruptors with John Peterson 'Pete' Myers, Ph.D., CEO and Chief Scientist of Environmental Health Sciences, New York State Senator Pete Harckham, Chair of the New York Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, and Megan Wolff, Ph.D., MPH, Policy Director at Beyond Plastics.
Register here for this online program.
People may be exposed to endocrine disrupting chemicals through everyday food and beverages consumed, pesticides applied, and cosmetics used. Endocrine disruptors can decrease or increase normal hormone levels or alter the natural production of hormones in the body. Even low doses of endocrine-disrupting chemicals may be unsafe. The body’s normal endocrine functioning involves very small changes in hormone levels, yet we know even these small changes can cause significant developmental and biological effects.
John Peterson 'Pete' Myers, Ph.D. is founder, CEO and Chief Scientist of Environmental Health Sciences, a not-for-profit organization that promotes public understanding of advances in scientific research on links between the environment and human health. Dr. Myers holds a doctorate in the biological sciences from the University of California, Berkeley and a BA from Reed College.
Senator Pete Harckham was elected to the New York State Senate in November 2018, and re-elected in 2020 and 2022—the culmination so far of a distinguished career in public service. Currently, he is chair of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee. Through his two full terms in office, Harckham has become one of the most productive members of the New York State Senate. Well-regarded as a champion of the environment, Harckham helped pass the toughest climate protection legislation in the nation, and also introduced legislation, later enacted, requiring all new passenger car and truck sales to be zero emission by 2035 and allowing municipalities to build solar canopies and jumpstart community renewable energy projects. Earlier this year, Governor Kathy Hochul placed Harckham’s landmark wetlands legislation protecting Class C streams statewide, which will safeguard fragile drinking water resources, into her proposed 2023 State Budget.
Megan J. Wolff, Ph.D., MPH is a public health historian with an eye to using history to inform policy. After receiving her masters and doctorate in public health from Columbia University, she spent over a decade at Weill Cornell Medical College, where she developed a mental health policy initiative within the Department of Psychiatry. She believes that climate change is the greatest threat to health and well-being in contemporary life, and that overproduction of plastics touches on every phase of the climate fight. She lives with her family in New Paltz, New York.
Elisabeth (Beth) Radow is the managing attorney of Radow Law PLLC. Beth’s law practice and pro bono work focuses on real estate, real estate finance, the environment and sustainability. Beth has chaired the Committee on Energy, Agriculture and the Environment for the League of Women Voters of New York State since 2010.