Toxics Across America

Date published: April 15, 2014

Toxics Across America [PDF] tallies billions of pounds of chemicals in the American marketplace that are known or strongly suspected to cause increasingly common disorders, including certain cancers, developmental disabilities, and infertility.

Our report looks at 120 chemicals that have been identified by multiple federal, state and international officials as known or suspected health hazards. Using the latest, albeit limited, data collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, we identify which of these chemicals are in commerce in the U.S.; in what amounts they are being made; which companies are producing or importing them; where they are being produced or imported; and how they are being used.

An interactive online map accompanying the report lets the user access the report's data and search by chemical, company, state, and location.

Among the report's key findings:

• At least 81 of the chemicals on the list are produced or imported to the US annually in amounts of one million pounds or more.
• At least 14 exceed one billion pounds produced or imported annually, including carcinogens such as formaldehyde and benzene, and the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA).
• More than 90 chemicals on the list are found in consumer and commercial products. At least eight are used in children's products.