On Feb. 18, California State Sens. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) and Don Perata (D-East Bay) introduced SB 600, a biomonitoring bill entitled “The Healthy Californians Biomonitoring Program.” The bill proposes establishing a statewide program to measure toxic chemical exposure levels of state residents by testing blood, tissue, and urine samples from Californian volunteers. If passed, California will be the first state in the nation to track and report on the presence of toxic chemicals in its citizens. Recent research showing industrial chemicals in our bodies provide a strong argument for biomonitoring programs. For example, a January 2003 study by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Environmental Working Group, and Commonweal tested nine adult Americans and found an average of 91 industrial compounds, pollutants, and other chemicals in their blood and urine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control manages a limited biomonitoring study that annually analyzes blood samples from individuals nationwide to project the toxic exposure for the population as a whole. These studies consistently find carcinogens, neurotoxins, reproductive toxins, developmental toxins, and endocrine disruptors in people, although in most cases below traditional levels of toxicological concern. The Healthy Californians Biomonitoring Program will provide the public and lawmakers with more information on toxic exposure in the state. The bill requires the state to make the testing results publicly available, while keeping volunteers’ identities confidential. This new approach to tracking chemicals could reinforce the need for increased chemical testing and improved regulatory protections. Ortiz, one of the bill’s sponsors, explained that “the bill will enable us to know just which toxic pollutants are in our bodies and move accordingly to improve everyone’s health and safety.” While the chemicals tracked in biomonitoring studies are known toxins, current U.S. chemical regulations do not require companies to test the safety of tens of thousands of other synthetic chemicals on the market. The public and decision-makers lack basic health and environmental information on the majority of chemicals in everyday items such as fabrics, toys, paints, and other consumer products. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lacks basic safety data on more than 85 percent of chemicals in commerce. The current bill is a narrowed version of a more aggressive biomonitoring bill of the same name that was introduced in California last year, which failed to move. Several public interest groups have already stepped forward to support the latest version of the bill including the Breast Cancer Fund, Commonweal, National Environmental Trust and the California Interfaith Partnership for Children’s Health and the Environment. The bill has been referred to the Senate Health Committee, for which Ortiz is the chairman. The committee has scheduled a short hearing on the biomonitoring bill for March 30. The committee only allows two witness in support of the bill and two in opposition of the bill to testify for three minutes a piece.