{"id":479,"date":"2010-03-31T14:14:19","date_gmt":"2010-03-31T19:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/?p=479"},"modified":"2026-03-14T13:48:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T18:48:03","slug":"getting-down-to-brass-tacks-defining-differences-in-positions-on-tsca-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2010\/03\/31\/getting-down-to-brass-tacks-defining-differences-in-positions-on-tsca-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting down to brass tacks: Defining differences in positions on TSCA reform"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.<\/em><\/p>\n

As the long-awaited introduction of TSCA reform legislation at last appears to be about to happen (how\u2019s that for being definitively vague?), the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (SCHF) coalition believes it is time to more sharply define some of the policy areas where we currently differ from the chemical industry, insofar as we have been able to discern their positions through the principles, testimony and other public statements they have provided.\u00a0 After all, you have first to identify differences before you can seek to narrow them.<\/p>\n

SCHF took the opportunity to define those differences yesterday, choosing as our venues both the inside and the outside of the chemical industry\u2019s big annual shindig, its GlobalChem<\/a> conference held in Baltimore.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Outside, accompanied by a 20-foot inflatable rubber ducky<\/a> battered by rain and wind but clearly visible to conference attendees<\/a>, SCHF members and supporters held a rally and news conference<\/a>. \u00a0Draped across the duck was the message:\u00a0 \u201cChemical industry — You can\u2019t duck real reform!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Inside, warm and dry, I was the only environmental NGO representative to speak at the conference.\u00a0 I was part of the kickoff plenary panel on \u201cTSCA Modernization\u201d that also featured the presidents of the two major chemical industry trade associations \u2013 ACC<\/a> and SOCMA<\/a> \u2013 as well as the former head of the toxics office at EPA, and a current EPA official.<\/p>\n

While the adjacent venues stood in stark contrast to each other, our message was the same:\u00a0 We need strong reform that fully protects public health and the environment.<\/p>\n

Here are SCHF\u2019s news release (English<\/a>\/Spanish<\/a>) and factsheet<\/a> highlighting three key differences between our and the industry\u2019s positions.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Chemical Week\u2019<\/a><\/em>s take on all this [subscription required].<\/p>\n

And below is a graphic boiling down the differences:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, one little annoyance to report:\u00a0 SCHF had printed up postcards carrying the above graphic on one side, and a photo of an infant chewing on a rubber ducky on the other side, bearing the tag line: \u201cChemical industry — You can\u2019t duck real reform!\u201d <\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0At several points throughout the morning, I placed a stack of the postcards on a table near the registration desk bearing literature from various companies and organizations.\u00a0 Each time, shortly after putting them out, I saw they were all gone.<\/p>\n

Clearly, some conference official decided to keep removing the postcards, which they apparently considered subversive literature.\u00a0 You\u2019d think something as minor as this would have been treated like water running off a duck\u2019s back.\u00a0 Oh well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist. As the long-awaited introduction of TSCA reform legislation at last appears to be about to happen (how\u2019s that for being definitively vague?), the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (SCHF) coalition believes it is time to more sharply define some of the policy areas where we currently differ from the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,114108],"tags":[39150,5020],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-policy","category-tsca","tag-american-chemistry-council","tag-safer-chemicals-healthy-families"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t