Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
Imagine if someone spread a human carcinogen across millions of acres of land. Then imagine that the carcinogen was found to be entering surface waters due to runoff from the treated acreage. And then that the carcinogen was found to be accumulating in the dust in homes located near the treated acres.
Far-fetched? Hardly. Welcome to the good ol’ US of A. Read More
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 was introduced in the U.S. Senate today by Senator Frank Lautenberg and is co-sponsored by Senators Amy Klobuchar, Charles Schumer, and Barbara Boxer.
In the TSCA reform debate, some things haven’t changed from last year: TSCA is just as badly in need of an overhaul, and consumers and the chemical industry’s customers have no more confidence in the safety of chemicals in use today than they did a year ago. States, other countries and the marketplace all continue to act to advance modern chemical safety policies and practices. We in the advocacy community are still waiting for the chemical industry to offer some of its own proposals for reform – though some individual companies and product associations have been more forthcoming.
In contrast, the 2011 version of the Safe Chemicals Act has changed in some important ways – and for the better. It includes a number of improvements over last year’s version that would both boost health protections and ease implementation and workability.
[Updated 5-9-11: Here's a side-by-side comparing the 2011 version to the 2010 version of the Act.] Read More
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
An article just out in Chemical Week by senior editor Kara Sissel simply nails it in describing the state of affairs on TSCA reform as it played out at last week’s GlobalChem conference.
The captions under the side-by-side photos of American Chemistry Council (ACC) President Cal Dooley and yours truly tell it all. Mr. Dooley laments the increasingly complex and unpredictable regulatory landscape that finally drove ACC to shift away from its longstanding opposition to TSCA reform. But my plea that it is long past time for ACC to come forward with its own specific proposals for that reform speaks to where things have been stuck for much of the past year. Read More
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
It’s only a little more than 30 miles from Washington, DC to Annapolis, the Capitol of the State of Maryland. But to judge from testimony given there on February 24 and March 1 by representatives of the chemical, formulated products and food industries, you’d think Annapolis existed in a parallel universe, with only a passing resemblance to the one in DC.
The occasions were hearings on companion bills introduced into the Maryland State Senate, SB 637, and the State House of Delegates, HB 759, titled the “Healthy Kids, Healthy Maryland – Toxic Chemical Identification and Reduction.”
Actually, the industry associations’ testimonies suggest either of two alternative universes. In one of them, Maryland should do nothing to address dangerous chemical exposures because the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and other related laws are working quite well, thank you very much. Residing in this parallel universe are the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the American Cleaning Institute (ACI, until recently the more accurately named Soap and Detergent Association), the Maryland Industrial Technology Alliance and the Consumer Specialty Products Association (CSPA).
In the other parallel universe, Maryland should do nothing to address dangerous chemical exposures because it will only get in the way of TSCA reform, which is just around the corner. Inhabiting this alternative universe are the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), the Can Manufacturers Institute, and yes – as another indication that it just can’t quite make up its mind about TSCA reform – once again, the American Chemistry Council. Read More
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
Today, legislators in 30 states and the District of Columbia introduced or announced plans to introduce bills aimed at reducing the impact of chemicals on public health. These actions send a strong signal that states will to continue to respond to the mounting public concern over unsafe, under-regulated and inadequately tested chemicals — in the face of continued inaction by the U.S. Congress to do so.
The bills differ in scope and content, but all of them address chemicals, products or policy needs that have fallen through the cracks in the 35 years since the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) was enacted.
With strong, bipartisan majorities of Americans embracing the need for stronger chemical laws, these latest actions make clear that states will continue to act until there is a strong federal system in place that restores confidence in our government's ability to assure the safety of all chemicals we use and encounter in our daily lives. Read More
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist and Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
A new report documents that state-level legislation to control toxic chemicals adopted over the past eight years has passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. The report also highlights that both the pace of adoption and the scope of such legislation have grown significantly – a trend expected to continue until Congress enacts meaningful, comprehensive reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
The report, Healthy States: Protecting Families While Congress Lags Behind, was released today by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families and Safer States, a coalition of state-level organizations working for chemicals policy reform. The report analyzes 71 chemical safety laws that were adopted between 2003 and 2010 in 18 states encompassing 41% of the U.S. population. The state laws enacted broadly fell into two categories: those that place restrictions on individual dangerous chemicals, and those that embrace more comprehensive chemical policies.
The report’s main finding is that these laws passed with overwhelming support – and that support was strongly bipartisan:
What we find most remarkable about these new numbers is that they mirror almost exactly the views of the American electorate. Read More
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
Yesterday, at its annual meeting, the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) unanimously adopted a resolution calling on Congress to enact strong and comprehensive reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
ECOS is comprised of the heads of the environmental agencies in the U.S. states and territories. Its new resolution includes major elements of reform that EDF and the other health and environmental members of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families have been calling for. Read More
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