Toxic Ignorance is Not Bliss
Chemical safety has been ignored by federal regulators, which means states and businesses have stepped in
Illustration by Esther Crotty
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STORY TOOLS
The business community today often complains that it is hindered by too much government regulation. But in the area of public health, at least, shouldn’t we all expect enough regulation to ensure that products on the market are safe?
In reality, chemicals used in many consumer products have never been tested, with the result that toxic substances are a pervasive presence in our lives. Often, the dangers are discovered only after the products have made their way into the marketplace. Two such examples are formaldehyde in plywood from China that was used in trailers housing people made homeless by Hurricane Katrina, and lead that was repeatedly found last year in children’s toys.
There’s a reason for this. When Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) nearly 35 years ago, no testing of the 62,000 chemicals then on the market was required. Since then, the Environmental Protection Agency has required limited testing on only about 200 of those chemicals and has restricted only five. And while the TSCA law banned polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), it gave EPA so little regulatory authority that it could not even ban asbestos, a known human carcinogen.
The chemical most in the headlines today is bisphenol A (BPA), a hormone-disrupting compound used in polycarbonate plastics. More than 6 billion pounds of BPA are produced annually for use in countless products, from eyeglass lenses to the linings of food cans, to baby bottles.
BPA has been linked in scientific studies to increased breast cancer risk, altered brain and breast development, altered thyroid function, recurrent miscarriage and erectile dysfunction. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found BPA in the bodies of 93 percent of the American population, with the highest levels in children. But the Food and Drug Administration has declined, in the face of government-funded studies that indicated the hazards of BPA, to restrict its use in products like baby bottles, that are under its purview.
“We have much better science today than we did 30 years ago,” says Dr. Richard Denison, Senior Scientist at the Environmental Defend Fund. “But we have old regulations—blind to the new science.”
Even without strong federal regulations on chemical safety, businesses began responding to increased public concern. Once some companies began making “BPA-free” baby bottles, for example, retailers jumped on board. Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, stopped selling baby bottles containing BPA altogether, and Toys ‘R’ Us and CVS soon followed suit.
Playtex, Gerber, Evenflo, Avent America and Disney First Years have all banned BPA from their products, and chemical manufacturer Sunoco announced it would require guarantees that the BPA it makes won’t be used in manufacturing food and water containers for children under age 3.
Troubled by the seemingly low priority given to chemical safety at EPA, Denison began using his blog to critique current chemical safety practices and advocate specific reforms. Soon after his posts began appearing, EPA announced new principles and initiatives for advancing chemical safety that closely mirror EDF’s recommendations. And in late December EPA issued several plans to take action on specific toxic chemicals. An action plan for BPA is due shortly.
“Reform is finally within our grasp,” says Denison, “but there’s still a lot of work to be done to ensure that reform is comprehensive and meaningful.”
EDF is taking a lead role among the more than 100 organizations that have joined the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families campaign, urging Congress to update TSCA, in part by requiring chemical manufacturers to provide robust, full health and safety information on chemicals—and to prove they’re safe.
Chemical companies should not be allowed to keep their customers in the dark about the safety of chemicals they sell. And manufacturers should recognize that they will gain a competitive edge if they use safer chemicals in their products.
Congress, by reforming and strengthening TSCA, should bolster industry efforts to protect the health of families, workplaces and the environment, while also rewarding innovative businesses over those that continue to sell untested or unsafe products.
For more information on how to strengthen the Toxic Substances Control Act, visit www.edf.org, or the campaign’s Website, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families.
2010-02-10 18:47:41
Thanks for posting this. I think making industrial chemicals safer is something we can all get behind. To ensure that we really fix this problem we must include modern science language, which necessarily utilizes non-animal methods, in this bill; otherwise we'll have another outdated bill on our hands. To quote your article: “We have much better science today than we did 30 years ago,” says Dr. Richard Denison, Senior Scientist at the Environmental Defend Fund. “But we have old regulations—blind to the new science." Currently, many toxicity tests are based on experiments in animals and use methods that were developed as long ago as the 1930’s; they and are slow, inaccurate, open to uncertainty and manipulation, and do not adequately protect human health. These tests take anywhere from months to years, and tens of thousands to millions of dollars to perform. More importantly, the current testing paradigm has a poor record in predicting effects in humans and an even poorer record in leading to actual regulation of dangerous chemicals. Alternatives to animal testing exist in a powerful way and many scientists advocate them. Chemical reform should not only modernize policy, but modernize the science that supports that policy. Let's ensure chemical reform uses all the necessary tools to truly make humans, our environment, and animals safe.
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