Thousands of children and pets each year are poisoned by antifreeze because it has sweet taste. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine estimates more than 700 children under the age of six, and nearly 10,000-90,000 pets were exposed to its poisonous ingredients.

Encourage your local, provincial, state, or federal governments to require manufacturers to add a bittering agent to all antifreeze containing more than 10% ethylene glycol. Thus, children and animals will be discouraged from ingesting it. Adding a bittering agent like denatonium benzoate — one of the bitterest substances available and is now used safely in many other household products — will increase the cost of antifreeze by only two cents per gallon. It’s a small price to pay for the safety of kids and pets.

Oregon, California and New Mexico have already adopted their own laws requiring the addition of a bittering substance to antifreeze, and twelve other states—Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington—have legislation pending. Further, the U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a resolution urging Congress to “help cities protect children and animals” by passing the Antifreeze Bittering Act.

Furthermore antifreeze legislation was passed during the last session of Congress (in July 2006) by the House Energy and Commerce Committee as well as the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the respective panels with jurisdiction over the bill. However, it was never brought-up for a vote on the floor of either chamber.