Federal Chemical Legislation Introduced Today “Safe Chemicals Act of 2011” Introduced in Senate

“Safe Chemicals Act of 2011” Introduced in Senate

Washington, DC— April 14, 2011 — Signaling their clear intention to protect families from toxic chemicals linked to serious health problems, Senator Frank Lautenberg, Barbara Boxer, Amy Klobuchar, Charles Schumer and others today introduced the “Safe Chemicals Act” to upgrade America’s outdated system for managing chemical safety. The legislation builds on the momentum from 18 states, including Oregon, that have worked on numerous laws to address health hazards from chemicals such as toxic flame retardants and mercury.

The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 will help fill the gap in the nation’s chemical safety laws that currently allow harmful chemicals into our homes in the products we use everyday.

“Science is linking toxic chemical exposure to all kinds of serious health problems, including breast, neurological disorders like autism and Alzheimer's, and fertility problems,” said Renee Hackenmiler-Paradis of the Oregon Environmental Council. “Families should be able to trust that the products they buy are safe. The Safer Chemicals Act is essential for protecting the health of consumers, workers and children through a smarter, safer and preventative approach to chemical use in consumer products and in the workplace.”

The Safe Chemicals Act would overhaul the 35-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which is widely perceived to have failed to protect public health and the environment.  Specifically the Act would: 

• Require EPA to identify and restrict the “worst of the worst” chemicals, those that persist and build up in the food chain
• Require basic health and safety information for all chemicals as a condition for entering or remaining on the market
• Reduce the burden of toxic chemical exposures on people of color and low-income and indigenous communities
• Upgrade scientific methods for testing and evaluating chemicals to reflect best practices called for by the National Academy of Sciences
• Generally provide EPA with the tools and resources it needs to identify and address chemicals posing health and environmental concerns

“The whole world has woken up to the ragged holes in our federal safety net for chemicals,” said Andy Igrejas, Director of Safer Chemicals, Health Families, a coalition of 280 health, environmental and business groups, and of which Washington Toxics Coalition is a member. “We need a new law to put commonsense limits on toxic chemicals both to protect American families, and to give a leg up to American firms in a world market that increasingly demands safer products.”

The Act also responds to increasingly forceful warnings from scientific and medical experts—including the President’s Cancer Panel—that current policies have failed to curtail common chemicals linked to diseases such as cancer, learning disabilities, infertility, and more.  In addition to recent state laws, numerous corporate policies of major American companies restricting toxic chemicals, including Staples, SC Johnson, Wal-Mart and Kaiser Permanente.

Passed in 1976, TSCA’s presumption that chemicals should be considered innocent until proven guilty was a sharp departure from the approach taken with pharmaceuticals and pesticides.  Since then, an overwhelming body of science has shown that presumption to be unfounded.  Published studies in peer-reviewed journals have shown many common chemicals can cause chronic diseases and can be toxic even at low doses.

Once thought to pose little likelihood of exposure, we now know many chemicals migrate from the materials and products in which they’re used—including furniture, plastics and food cans – into our bodies.  The federal Centers for Disease Control has found that the blood or tissues of almost every American carry hundreds of these chemicals, some present even before birth.  Yet under TSCA, EPA cannot restrict even the most dangerous of these chemicals and lacks the information it needs to evaluate how this complex mixture of chemicals affects our health.  EPA has been able to require testing of only a few hundred of the 62,000 chemicals that have been on the market since TSCA was passed 35 years ago, a number that has increased to 85,000 chemicals today. 

“The science on the links between chemicals and cancer is clear and more widely accepted than ever before,” said Nancy Buermeyer of the Breast Cancer Fund, a national advocacy organization that focuses on prevention.  “Still, every day millions of families are coping with the devastation of cancer diagnoses. We must protect the public’s health from dangerous or untested chemicals, and there’s no time to wait. Congress should act now on chemical policy reform.”

"This proposed TSCA reform would enable EPA to swiftly address chemicals that we know can harm babies' developing brains, and require testing of chemicals for safety before they go into products,” said Maureen Swanson of the Learning Disabilities Association. At a time when we face increasing rates of autism and ADHD, parents and expectant parents shouldn't have to worry that the products they buy might contain chemicals that can interfere with brain development and learning."

Advocates predict action in this Congress despite the partisan divide. They point to support from many businesses for reform of TSCA, including major chemical and consumer product companies such as Dow, BASF, and Procter & Gamble. They also point to the strong bipartisan support for chemical safety legislation at the state level, and public opinion research that consistently shows overwhelming bipartisan support for reform.

About the Oregon Environmental Council

The Oregon Environmental Council safeguards what Oregonians love about Oregon—clean air and water, an unpolluted landscape and healthy food produced by local farmers. For more than 40 years we've been a champion for solutions to protect the health of every Oregonian and the health of the place we call home. Our vision for Oregon includes solving global warming, protecting kids from toxics, cleaning up our rivers, building sustainable economies, and ensuring healthy food and local farms. Find out more a oeconline.org.