EPA Increases Transparency on Chemical Risk Information
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/principles.html
"As part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson's commitment to strengthen and reform chemical management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a new policy to increase the public's access to information on chemicals. Starting today, EPA has announced its intention to reject a certain type of confidentiality claim, known as Confidential Business Information (CBI), on the identity of chemicals. The chemicals that will be affected by this action are those that are submitted to EPA with studies that show a substantial risk to people's health and the environment and have been previously disclosed on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Inventory. This action represents another step to use the agency's authority under the existing TSCA to the fullest extent possible, recognizing EPA's strong belief that the 1976 law is both outdated and in need of reform."
Comment: This really needs to go a step further to ensure transparency of ALL chemicals. Listing only chemicals with known substantial risk is not adequate. People should be able to discern all ingredients in products for allergy and sensitivity reasons. Waiting untili a chemical is proven a risk leaves the chance of many people being injured until studies are done. Being that 80% of chemicals have not been tested for human safety, this seems to be a lot of "feel good" publicity designed to calm the massses that doesn't really solve the problem it addresses in the way the public wants.
