Protect our Health from Toxic Chemicals

There are 82,000 chemicals available for use in the U.S., yet only about 200 have been assessed for safety.  Only five chemicals have been removed from use based on health and safety concerns.  Just this month, US EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson introduced the Obama Administration's Essential Principles for Reform of Chemicals Management Legislation.

These principles are:

• Chemicals should be reviewed against safety standards that are based on sound science and reflect risk-based criteria protective of human health and the environment.
• Manufacturers should provide EPA with the necessary information to conclude that new and existing chemicals are safe and do not endanger public health or the environment.
• Risk management decisions should take into account sensitive subpopulations, cost, availability of substitutes and other relevant considerations.
• Manufacturers and EPA should assess and act on priority chemicals, both existing and new, in a timely manner.
• Green chemistry should be encouraged and provisions assuring transparency and public access to information should be strengthened.
• EPA should be given a sustained source of funding for implementation.

PSR has been advocating for similar policy solutions for years.  It is encouraging that our leaders are starting to hear our call for chemical reform.  As U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) stated, “America’s system for regulating toxic chemicals is broken. Far too little is known about the hundreds of chemicals that end up in our bodies and EPA has far too little authority to determine their safety…Americans deserve to know that products they rely on – from household cleaners to personal care products to building materials – are safe and will not harm their families.”

Many of the chemicals that Administrator Jackson and Senator Lautenberg are referring to are persistent, can build up in our bodies and cause reported health effects. These chemicals of high concern can be detected in our bodies through biomonitoring.  Biomonitoring is a technique in which blood, urine hair, semen, breast milk, or other biologic specimens are analyzed for the presence of chemicals.

PSR just completed a first-of-its-kind biomonitoring study of health professionals.  It found dangerous toxic chemicals present in the bodies of twenty doctors and nurses from across America. Four of the chemicals found were top chemicals of concern identified by the EPA, and all were endocrine disruptors. 

Evidence of widespread contamination of human beings makes it clear that the nation’s outdated and ineffective chemical management system must be reformed.

Tell your Representative and Senator that we must protect our health from toxic chemicals.

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