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We Still Need Chemical Reform

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We Still Need Chemical ReformHere we are almost a year after my trip to Washington DC with my daughter and other parents and children and nothing has changed. We still do not have any chemical reform and some of the legislation being discussed does very little to change the system.

Many people think that the government, specifically the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protects us from dangerous chemicals. They actually do not! A law written before I was born is the only law that protects us from harmful chemicals. The main law that protects us from toxic chemicals is the Toxic Substances Reform Act (TSCA) was written and passed in 1976. When the law was passed there were about 60,000 chemicals used in the country. Only 200 of the original 60,000 chemicals were tested for safety as result of TSCA. The fact you may find most shocking is that only 5 of those chemicals had restrictions placed on them.

80,000 chemicals have come on the market since TSCA was passed and have not been tested for human and environmental safety.

USAUnder the law now, the EPA must prove a chemical poses an “unreasonable risk” to public health or the environment before it can be regulated. The definition of “unreasonable risk” is so widely debated and hard to enforce many people consider it an outright failure. Many chemicals on the market have never been fully assessed for toxic impacts on human health and the environment.

USAThese are scary facts… that is why my daughter and I along with several other families went to meet with senators last year to talk about meaningful reform. My daughter at the ripe age of 4 handed several senators thousands of signatures of people who support sweeping reform.

In this age of cancer overtaking heart disease as leading killer among Americans we need to look for solutions. Our chemical exposure compromises our health from conception through old age. Reform is needed to protect our health.

USAA new law has been introduced the Alan Reinstein and Trevor Schaefer Toxic Chemical Protection Act introduced by Senators Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Edward Markey, D-Mass. last Thursday, represents real reform that honors the millions of people who have faced breast cancer and other serious diseases linked to chemical exposures it will strengthen TSCA by setting new standards that will:

  • Require rapid review of toxic chemicals of high concern to human health or the environment with chemical industry sharing the cost of the federal safety review.
  • Require the EPA to consider all of the ways people are exposed to a chemical, reflecting real-world conditions.
  • Preserve the EPA’s authority to regulate consumer products and monitor imported products for dangerous chemicals.
  • Protect the right of states to more fully protect their citizens from unsafe chemical exposures linked to increasing rates of breast cancer and other diseases.

There is another law that was introduced by Senator David Vitter, R-La., Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., titled Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act which does not ensure consumer protections like the Chemical Protection Act. There has been scrutiny in the last 24 hours as to who even authored the bill because Hearst Newspapers is reporting the document they were sent in advance of todays hearings on the topic is authored by The American Chemistry Council. Besides the obvious concern of the bill being authored by a group that would generally not be interested in more chemical scrutiny, the bill strips the rights and laws already in effect by states for chemical safety. As you may have guessed some states have stricter laws so this could effectively weaken our rights as consumer.

Today is the beginning of the discussions in the Senate on this topic. Lets hope that we see something that finally come from this effort that actually protects us. The general feeling is the Vitter/Udall bill will not give us the reform we really need.

Please ask your senators to support legislation that would protect our health. We have to limit our chemical exposure and the only way we can do that is with meaningful reform. I hope to see some change this year that can truly protect our health. 

The post We Still Need Chemical Reform appeared first on Green4u.


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