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
EPA recently released its new TSCA “systematic review” method that establishes how the Agency will use science to make decisions about whether to limit toxic chemicals in our air, water, food and everyday products. Unfortunately, our analysis finds that instead of ensuring a comprehensive, unbiased evaluation, like a systematic review is supposed to do, the … Continue reading EPA method will curtail science used in chemical evaluations
Our April 2018 legislative briefing “Is the New Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Working as Congress Intended?,” held in partnership with The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), was attended by 95 people including Congressional and agency staff, media and NGOs. Leading experts shared concerns about EPA’s approach to the science in TSCA implementation- … Continue reading Is the New Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Working as Congress Intended?
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
Methylene chloride, an ingredient used in paint strippers, has been responsible for a tragic, recurring pattern of deaths year after year. Predicting the future is never easy—but in the case of methylene chloride, it is all too clear that this deadly chemical will kill again, unless action is taken to finally remove it from store … Continue reading Risky paint stripper will continue to kill while EPA delays
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making major changes in how it deals with hazardous chemicals, and the first 10 chemicals EPA is considering have a whopping combined production volume of over 1 billion pounds per year. That’s about 3 pounds of chemicals per person in the U.S., and we know that Americans … Continue reading EPA plans for calculating chemical risks just don’t add up
