A new poll, conducted in October, finds that voters overwhelmingly support the regulation of toxic chemicals, and are most concerned about water, food and food packaging exposures. As Brian Bienkowski reports in Environmental Health News:

“Americans want government and industry to get harmful chemicals out of our products, according to a survey of 1,200 registered voters commissioned by the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at the University of California, San Francisco. More than 90% of those surveyed supported the notion that the government should require products be proven safe before they are put on the market.

At a time when most issues are politically polarized, the issue of keeping people safe from harmful chemicals finds widespread agreement among Democrats, Republicans and Independent voters,” said Celinda Lake — president of Lake Research Partners, which conducted the poll — in a statement. A majority of those polled are even willing to pay more for protection from toxics: 93% agree (57% strongly agree) that it’s important to remove harmful chemicals from our homes, workplaces and schools even if it increases the costs of some products. [In addition] 76% were concerned about the impact of chemicals and plastics on climate change [and] 54% said chemical regulations aren’t strong enough…”

Learn more: Americans Actually Agree on Something — They Want Products Free of Harmful Chemicals