An Act to Restrict the Availability of Products with Excessive levels of Arsenic (2002)
A fertilizer has been sold in Maine even though it contains high levels of both lead and arsenic, both of which are poisonous. Made from mining waste, Ironite has more than ten times the amount of arsenic deemed by the state of California to be a health hazard. The better version of the bill banned the product outright. It failed in the Senate, which adopted a weaker version directing the Department of Agriculture to write rules that say how much poison a fertilizer can contain. Under this version, there is no guarantee that the problem will be solved. Fortunately, the state Attorney General has required that the product be pulled from store shelves.
