Toxic chemicals and pollutants are contributing to a rise in chronic disease including cancer, Parkinson’s, diabetes, heart disease, autism, and infertility. Yet, the chemical lobby is trying to rewrite the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the one law designed to protect people from harmful chemicals. If they are successful, it could result in significantly higher exposures to toxic chemicals and more sickness and death.
A Congressional hearing scheduled for Thursday, January 22 will discuss draft legislation to significantly weaken TSCA under the guise of “innovation.” Dr. Tracey Woodruff will testify at the hearing, which will be live streamed.
TSCA was updated by Congress in 2016 to improve the law’s legal structures and EPA’s ability to ban harmful chemicals, following the Agency’s efforts to ban deadly asbestos that were stymied by industry. The updated TSCA requires EPA to conduct safety reviews of new chemicals before they enter the market, conduct risk evaluations of existing chemicals to identify unreasonable risks, and protect people more susceptible to toxic harms such as pregnant women, children, workers, and those who live where polluting facilities are sited.
But the Trump Administration is pursuing a Let Industry Do Whatever It Wants strategy as Trump’s EPA has granted – or is in the process of granting – a laundry list of requests from the National Association of Manufacturers’ “wish list.” In addition to weakening TSCA, industry wants to:
- Reverse course on limiting PFAS in drinking water
- Give polluters a “pass” on Clean Air Act requirements
- Delay a rule phasing out use of TCE, a degreaser linked to Parkinson’s disease
- Rework the math of risk evaluations for 1,4 dioxane, which is linked to kidney and liver damage, and other harmful chemicals
- Fast track new chemical approvals
It doesn’t stop there. Led by industry insiders, Trump’s EPA is working to eliminate EPA’s science arm, the Office of Research and Development, and has approved more than 600 new PFAS chemicals in recent years.
An overwhelming majority of voters (92%) want the government to do a better job of regulating harmful chemicals and 89% support the goal of TSCA to protect vulnerable populations and communities from toxic chemicals, according to a recent national survey.
Meanwhile, Congress needs to provide robust oversight of EPA’s implementation of TSCA to ensure the Agency uses the best available science, accounts for real-world chemical exposures in their risk evaluations, and removes financial and industry conflict of interest from the regulatory process. These steps will make significant progress to tackle rising chronic disease and make America healthy again.
