One day in 2017, I got a phone call that no parent should ever get. My son Kevin had been discovered unconscious at work. His brother Michael had done CPR until paramedics arrived. At the hospital, the doctor told me that fumes from a product he’d been using to strip paint off a bathtub had overcome him and stopped his heart. They were able to restart it with machines, but Kevin had no brain activity. 

I need your help to get EPA administrator Michael Regan to ban the type of deadly products that killed my son.

Kevin was 21 years old, the youngest of my three children. When he walked into a room, he would light it up with his smile. He was excited about starting a new career refinishing bathtubs, where he knew he could make good money.

Before Kevin passed, I had never heard of methylene chloride. But then I learned that families have been losing loved ones to this chemical since the 1940s. In the body, methylene chloride fumes turn into carbon monoxide, which can quickly starve the heart and brain of oxygen. I learned that experts have been calling for restrictions on this chemical for decades. And that the European Union banned it from paint strippers in 2011. 

Kevin’s death could have been prevented. Now, I ask you to help me keep other mothers from losing their sons.

I was so angry that these deadly products were on the market. So I joined forces with other families who have lost loved ones to this chemical as well as non-profit organizations to get it off the market. I told Kevin’s story to reporters, and I went to Washington, DC, to meet with former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. We even filed a lawsuit.

There has been progress—Lowe’s, The Home Depot, and a dozen more retailers voluntarily banned these paint strippers from their shelves. Then, the EPA banned them for sale to consumers. 

But the EPA is still allowing the use of these deadly paint strippers on the job. 

A recent study found that more workers have died from methylene chloride exposure than consumers. There is no excuse for leaving workers unprotected.

There was nothing I could do to help Kevin, but I take comfort in the fact that he saved four lives as an organ donor. Now, I hope sharing his story can save more lives.

Please join me in demanding that EPA administrator Michael Regan protect workers like Kevin by banning these deadly paint strippers for all uses! No one should lose their life to something this preventable.