The new face of TSCA
http://www.psr.org/environment-and-health/confronting-toxics/blog/the-new-face-of-tsca.html
http://www.psr.org/environment-and-health/confronting-toxics/blog/the-new-face-of-tsca.html
"Following Senator Lautenberg's introduction of the Safe Chemicals Act in April, House Representatives Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) introduced the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act 2010, H.R. 5820, a bill (text) discussing reformation methods for the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Congress began our pursuit to protect the public from toxic chemicals by passing TSCA in 1976. However, following TSCA's initial introduction, limited successes have been achieved to safeguard the public from many dangerous chemicals that were already registered and on the market. Since its passage less than 200 of the over 80,000 registered chemicals have been evaluated for safety and only five have been banned. It is clear with such limited safety screening that many bad actor chemicals are escaping detection and are able to be included in our products to contaminate our air, food, water and subsequently our bodies. The key limitation to TSCA is its presumption of innocence for chemicals already registered. Further, new chemicals must only provide limited safety information, and some ingredient and safety information can be withheld from the public under confidential business information clauses. Finally, our Government must provide proof of harm before it is able to regulate, issue bans, or request further testing. These weaknesses have essentially crippled the EPA to fulfill its mission to ensure the American public safe chemical management."
