Of some 84,000 chemicals being used commercially in the United States, some 20 percent -- or 17,000 -- are kept secret not only from the public, but
from medical professionals, state regulators and even emergency responders, according to a report at the Washington Post.
And the reason for this potentially harmful lack of openness? Profit.
Original story:
www.washingtonpost.com...
A 1976 law, the Toxic Substances Control Act, mandates that manufacturers report to the Environmental Protection Agency any new chemicals they intend
to market, but manufacturers can request that a chemical be kept secret if disclosure "could harm their bottom line," the Washington Post
reports.
Because they are secret, it's impossible to tell how many of the 17,000 chemicals are potentially harmful to people. But the Post notes that, in
March of last year, more than half of the "substantial risk" reports filed with the EPA involved secret chemicals.
And chemical makers may be abusing their privilege under the law. According to the EPA, in recent years 95 percent of manufacturers' reports of new
chemicals have made some request for secrecy. Ten of the secret chemicals are used in children's products.
Story continues below...
The Post reports that Congress this year will tackle reform of the 1976 law.
EPA head Lisa Jackson has begun an effort to increase transparency in commercial chemicals. The EPA recently announced it is creating a "Chemicals of
Concern" list, which will detail substances that "may present an unreasonable risk of injury to health and the environment." The power to do that
was granted to the EPA under the 1976 law, but has never been used before.
Environment News Service reports:
Jackson says the 1976 law is both outdated and in need of reform. The decision to list the chemicals further signals "this administration's
commitment to aggressively use the tools at its disposal under TSCA," she said.
"At the same time," Jackson said, "I will continue to fight for comprehensive reform of the nation's outdated chemical management laws that
ensures a full assessment of the safety of chemicals on the market today and effective actions to reduce risks where chemicals do not meet the safety
standard."
"Chemical safety is an issue of utmost importance, especially for children, and this will remain a top priority for me and our agency going
forward," said Jackson, who is a mother.
In a press release, the EPA noted that, since the 1976 law was put on the books, the number of listed chemicals used in the US has increased from
60,000 to more than 80,000, but the EPA "has only successfully restricted or banned five existing chemicals and has only required testing on another
two hundred existing chemicals."
Read the full story here:
rawstory.com...
[edit on 5-1-2010 by 12GaugePermissionSlip]