One of EPA’s core responsibilities under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is to protect public health by evaluating chemicals and limiting the risky ones. EPA recently released step one in this process-- its first chemical evaluation since TSCA was reformed in 2016, on the chemical Pigment Violet 29.  Unfortunately, our analysis found alarmingly poor … Continue reading EPA assessment should be called Pigment “Violate” the science

1,4-dioxane is a cancer-causing chemical contaminating drinking water in Michigan, a situation local officials are calling “a slow-motion environmental disaster,” and significant problem with the water supply. Yet, despite such clear and acknowledged dangers, EPA will ignore 1,4-dioxane in people’s drinking water entirely in its health risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). … Continue reading EPA ignoring major risks in chemical assessments

There are almost 40,000 chemicals in commerce, and EPA needs to take action to limit those that are dangerous. That’s why the reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) directs EPA to select (through a prioritization process as shown below) 20 “high-priority,” potentially risky chemicals by the end of next year for assessment. To make informed … Continue reading EPA’s unwritten policy on chemical data: don’t ask, don’t tell

When Congress reformed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 2016, it gave EPA a critical job: to protect the public’s health from the ‘worst of the worst’ hazardous chemicals – those that build up in our bodies and persist in the environment, known as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals (PBTs). EPA’s recent assessment of … Continue reading ‘Worst of worst’ chemicals here to stay – EPA, we need action

You may have heard the statistics: 80,000 industrial, commercial and consumer product chemicals registered for use in the U.S. with little if any health data on most, and few hazardous chemicals restricted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Thus, you might naturally think that EPA’s focus under the reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) would … Continue reading In this EPA, low priority is a high priority

I wish my school exams had been as easy as getting approval to produce a new chemical under this administration’s EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). The Agency’s new process is the equivalent of getting a bunch of answers wrong, being told what the right answers are, then re-doing the test and getting an A+. But unlike … Continue reading EPA skirts law with industry ‘do-overs’ for risky chemicals

Meet some of the most infamous chemicals in the world: Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic chemicals- abbreviated as “PBTs.” The industrial chemicals PCBs, one of the first PBTs identified, were banned 4 decades ago yet to this day contaminate waterways, schools, and harm our health. Recent research from the Children’s Center at University of California, Berkeley … Continue reading Why PBT is a toxic chemical supervillain