Chemical Policy (TSCA)
There is widespread agreement that the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the principle federal statute governing the use and safety of the thousands of chemicals we are exposed to in our everyday lives, is broken and needs to be reformed.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been given responsibility but little authority to enforce TSCA. Enacted in 1976, this current law was broken from the start, grandfathering thousands of chemicals already on the market. This law is so broken and so weak that the EPA could not even ban asbestos, a cancer-causing substance that is still in use and killing thousands of Americans each year.
To date, the EPA has only reviewed a few hundred chemicals for safety. There are nearly 85,000 chemicals currently approved for use that the federal government and consumers know little to nothing about.
We need real toxic chemical reform that ensures protection of public health, especially to our vulnerable populations, and the environment from the hazards these chemicals pose.
In the past few weeks, EWG staff testified five times to support strong chemical policies at the state and federal levels: in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and the US Senate.
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EWG's Richard Wiles testifies to the Pennsylvania legislature on the dangers of BPA in children's products.
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We think consumers deserve to know that the products and ingredients they use every day have been tested for safety.
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Thousands of Chemical Names and Ingredients Kept Under Wraps At EPA
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By Alex Formuzis, EWG Director of Communications
Read MoreA list of recent accomplishments in Toxic Chemical Reform.
Read MoreThe 33-year old law that was supposed to ensure that Americans know what chemicals are in use around them, and what health and safety hazards they might pose, has produced a regulatory black hole, a place where information goes in – but much never comes out.
Read MoreLaboratory tests commissioned by EWG have detected as many as 232 toxic chemicals in cord blood samples collected from 10 minority newborns. Notably these tests show, for the first time, bisphenol A (BPA), a plastic component and synthetic estrogen, in umbilical cord blood of American infants.
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EWG comments that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry draft toxicological profile for perfluoroalkyl compounds lacks risk-based values despite abundant data that the chemical family is toxic to people.
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As Enviroblog readers know, EWG has been pushing for years to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the nation's chemical "safety" law.
Read MoreLisa Jackson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has announced historic plans to overhaul federal toxic chemicals controls, with more rigorous testing and safety standards and greater EPA authority to protect the public.
Read MoreOrganizations representing chemical manufacturers, environmental and public health advocates, environmental justice leaders and consumer product goods companies will host an historic conference to explore fundamental changes to U.S. chemical policy.
Read MoreEWG writes FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to express concern that the agency’s assessment of the plastics chemical BPA has not advanced, and data gaps remain.
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Don't underestimate the power of a consumer revolt. No hearings. No votes. No PAC money. No lawyers. (Yes!) No lobbying. Advertising -- Facebook and Twitter, virtual and viral. And free.
Read MoreJessica Webb of Healthy Child, Healthy World blogs about an important bill to change to California fire safety standards for baby products, and the chemical industry's efforts to uncut these improvements.
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This is Part 1 of a two part video filmed at the Mount Sinai Childrens Environmental Health Centers 2nd Annual Greening Our Children Benefit.
Read MoreA California science advisory panel today failed to declare exposure to the plastics chemical bisphenol A (BPA) toxic to the developing fetus and child, despite mounting scientific evidence of health risks.
Read MoreHi, my name is Lisa and I spend more time reading labels than ballots. There, I said it. Why do I spend so much time reading labels?
Read MoreEnvironmental Working Group (EWG) today launched an interactive online site featuring news and commentary, as well as a forum for a thought-provoking exchange of ideas on reforming the nation’s federal toxic chemicals policies. https://www.ewg.org/kid-safe-chemicals-act-blog
Read MoreSeventy-seven Harvard student volunteers experienced a nearly 70 percent increase in urinary levels of bisphenol A (BPA), a plastics component and synthetic estrogen linked to cancer, reproductive system damage and other serious conditions, after drinking cold beverages from BPA-laden polycarbonate bottles for just one week, according to researchers from Harvard University and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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