Of the 84,000 chemicals in commercial use in the United States — from flame retardants in furniture to household cleaners — nearly 20 percent are secret, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, their names and physical properties guarded from consumers and virtually all public officials under a little-known federal provision.
The policy was designed 33 years ago to protect trade secrets in a highly competitive industry. But critics — including the Obama administration — say the secrecy has grown out of control, making it impossible for regulators to control potential dangers or for consumers to know which toxic substances they might be exposed to.
At a time of increasing public demand for more information about chemical exposure, pressure is building on lawmakers to make it more difficult for manufacturers to cloak their products in secrecy. Congress is set to rewrite chemical regulations this year for the first time in a generation.
Read the rest here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/03/AR2010010302110_2.html?waporef=ak
It’s nice to see the Obama administration doing something so helpful by trying to fix this serious loophole that the chemical companies are exploiting.
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The European Union is working to make products safer for consumers and manufacturers alike. Its new regulations concerning chemicals used in product makeup, REACH, will extend across the pond to affect chemical standards in the United States. The new legislation will make everything from the manufacturing of home cleaners to the home cleaner itself, safer.
REACH, which stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemical Substances, is a European Community Regulation directed at ending the use of chemicals that are harmful to health or the environment. It was implemented in June 2007, serving as a replacement for more than 40 pieces of EU chemical-related legislation, and it will take a total of 11 years to complete its implementation.
The purpose of REACH is to improve the risk management of chemicals and to provide better safety information by increasing the amount of responsibility awarded to industries. These industries will be required to obtain more information on chemical properties and report to European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."About time!
Chemical Warfare… on the Consumer
Thanks Lisa. This is an important health issue. I’m glad to see it finally addressed.
…is why the people who benefit financially don’t recognize their potentially harming themselves, their families, their friends. I will never understand that mindset, and thank goodness for that.