AS A mother of two young girls who is well aware of the toxic hazards that my family faces every day, I was thrilled to see the Globe’s coverage this week of the issue of chemicals in household products (“Toxic or not?’’ g, Feb. 28). However, I was dismayed that the article promoted careful shopping as a solution to this widespread problem.
Even for someone like me who is well educated about toxic chemicals and vigilant about protecting my children’s health, it would be a full-time job to keep our home toxic-free, and impossible to protect my children from the chemical soup in their schools and other places they go every day.
While taking steps at home is the “only tool’’ we’ve got, as Dr. Ana Soto, professor of cellular biology at Tufts University School of Medicine, says, it’s not the answer.
These toxic chemicals need regulation, and we need our legislators to step up and pass laws that make companies find safer alternatives. Our children deserve it.
Erica Streit-Kaplan
Newton 
