Is toxic chemicals reform on the horizon?

For more than a decade, EDF senior scientist Richard Denison, Ph.D., has worked to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

This outdated federal law fails to protect Americans from unregulated chemicals, some of which are known to be toxic — but many more of which have never been tested for safety.

Now Denison’s efforts and those of his colleagues are bearing fruit.

In April 2013, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the Safe Chemicals Act.

Then, in a surprise move in May 2013, Senators Lautenberg and David Vitter introduced the Chemical Safety Improvement Act with strong bipartisan support.

EDF views this bill as a hard-fought compromise that, on balance, would give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) critical tools it needs to address the risks chemicals pose to health and to significantly strengthen health protections for American families.

Under the proposed legislation, for the first time:

• EPA would be required to review the safety of all chemicals in commerce
• EPA would have to find that a new chemical is likely to be safe before it could enter the market
• EPA would be able to issue orders to require testing of chemicals, rather than having to go through an onerous rulemaking process
• The bill would significantly tighten conditions under which chemical companies can hide information from the public

However, the bill has some key deficiencies.  For example:

• There are too few deadlines to direct EPA to initiate and complete actions
• EPA would have only limited ability to address disproportionately high exposures to chemicals suffered by many communities in America

On the balance, however, EDF is urging support for the Chemical Safety Improvement Act.

Why reform is so desperately needed

TCSA doesn’t regulate even the most dangerous chemicals — such as asbestos, formaldehyde and lead — despite their undeniable linkage to a whole raft of chronic diseases. And — incredibly — the vast majority of the 80,000 chemicals available for use in the United States have never been tested for toxic impacts on humans or the environment.

Over the years, Denison has shined a spotlight on the shortcomings of the law, writing science and policy reports, and testifying before Congressional committees. He also has teamed up with health, environmental justice and parent advocacy groups to create the "Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families" coalition.  In addition, his blog – innocently titled "Chemicals and Nanomaterials" – has become an influential must-read in the industry and government, as well as among reform advocates.

Turning the tide on toxic chemicals

Why has momentum finally shifted from debate of chemical safety toward action? Denison credits a recent exposé in the Chicago Tribune, titled "Playing with Fire." The seven-part series details a flagrantly deceptive campaign by the chemical industry starting in the 1970s to get laws passed that mandate massive use of flame retardant chemicals in furniture and other consumer products. This effort involved collusion between chemical companies and Big Tobacco to blame house fires caused by cigarettes on supposedly flammable furniture.

But recent tests have shown — shockingly — that the flame retardants mandated by the laws don’t actually stop fires.

The retardants do, however, build up in people’s bodies, even in newborn infants, and studies show that they can disrupt normal brain development in ways that lead to learning disabilities and behavioral impairments.

"The contamination of the bodies of every American with these toxic chemicals can be traced directly to the failures of TSCA," Denison said. "For too long, the public has  been the guinea pig for the testing of chemicals in an uncontrolled manner."