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Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
Sara Goodman of Greenwire/E&E News had a great piece picked up by the New York Times yesterday about state governments pressing for meaningful TSCA reform. I blogged earlier about the states’ reform principles, quoting Ted Sturdevant, Director of the Washington State Department of Ecology, urging that “[w]e need a federal law that prevents contamination from happening in the first place, and phases out the harmful chemicals that are already in widespread use.”
Goodman’s piece yesterday focused more on the need for fundamental reform of confidential business information (CBI) claim allowances under TSCA. Recall that, under TSCA, state governments as well as the public are denied access to any CBI EPA receives. Judging by their quotes in Goodman’s piece, they’re not happy about it: (more…)
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
In a post to this blog nearly a year ago, I noted that many voices in the chemical industry were claiming that EPA’s New Chemicals Program (NCP) was robust and served as an excellent model for TSCA reform. My post took considerable issue with that point of view, noting the many structural constraints TSCA imposes on EPA in its effort to review new chemicals:
Lately, I’ve been hearing chemical industry representatives trying to resuscitate the NCP-as-model-for-TSCA-reform mantra. So it is especially timely that a new report from EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has just been released that again thoroughly dismantles that notion. The new report’s critique of the NCP closely mirrors the appraisal I provided earlier. And adding weight to its analysis is the fact that EPA’s senior management has fully concurred with the report’s conclusions and recommendations. (more…)
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
I recently obtained – not without some effort on both EPA’s and my part – a scanned copy of a 1992 report commissioned by EPA innocuously titled “Influence of CBI Requirements on TSCA Implementation,” authored by the now-defunct Hampshire Research Associates. I subsequently found a copy in an old EPA docket, located here (6 MB PDF file).
This understated yet remarkable report is a veritable treasure trove of information that painstakingly documents the rampant rise in illegitimate confidential business information (CBI) claims made by the chemical industry in the first decade after passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) – and the very limited options available to EPA to stop such activity (despite recent admirable efforts on its part). (more…)
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
An article recently published in the journal Macromolecules reports on the development of a new process that the authors claim can prevent the migration of phthalates from PVC plastic. This “breakthrough” will undoubtedly be used to argue that industry should be allowed to continue to use a retinue of toxic chemicals in the manufacture of PVC destined for use in a broad variety of applications.
Concern for consumer exposures is often the main argument made against the use of toxic chemicals in consumer applications. With evidence of exposure to chemicals like phthalates in nearly everyone who has been tested, including pregnant women, this is understandable.
But even if the new claims are proven to be true, there are many other reasons we need to find safer substitutes for such chemicals: worker exposures, environmental releases and end-of-life recycling and disposal issues, to name a few. The potential impacts from continued use of toxic chemicals must be examined across their entire lifecycle. (more…)
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
Interesting exchange this afternoon between Joe Householder, Executive Director of the Coalition for Chemical Safety, and myself in comments on my last blog post. See Mr. Householder’s comment here, and my reply here.
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
The chemical industry’s fake grassroots group formed to feign broad support for its version of reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) – the Coalition for Chemical Safety, issued a press release today touting that it’s surpassed 150 members.
I blogged earlier about how some of the small businesses it has enlisted apparently weren’t told about the Coalition backers’ actual positions on toxic chemicals.
Now a review of the 150 members that have allowed the Coalition to meet its latest “milestone” reveals it has supplemented unwitting small businesses with dozens of agriculture-related companies and associations – despite the fact that TSCA doesn’t regulate ag chemicals!
Who knew that growing astroturf requires pesticides?? (more…)
