Untested Chemicals in Products We Use

Many of the thousands of synthetic chemicals used in consumer products have never been required to go through safety testing.

Science is only beginning to understand how synthetic chemicals affect our health and the health of our planet, but we've learned even minute amounts of some of them may cause serious harm.

Many chemicals have harmful effects

Wildlife studies, for example, have shown that certain chemicals at very low concentrations can disrupt hormonal systems. Take atrazine, a widely used herbicide. Low-level exposure to it can turn male frogs into functional females.Tweet This

What effect are synthetic chemicals having on people? Since the law that's supposed to assure chemical safety has given virtually all chemicals a free pass, we're just beginning to find out.

Most commercial chemicals have never been safety tested

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) was introduced almost 35 years ago in 1976. It was supposed to allow Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to obtain information from chemical companies, assess the safety of their products and regulate those found to be dangerous.

Unfortunately, about 62,000 chemicals were "grandfathered in," allowing companies to keep making and using them without any safety testing. Today, most chemicals on the market are among those original 62,000, and we have little information about their safety.Tweet This

Many chemicals are kept secret from you

TSCA also allows chemical companies to label virtually any of the information they submit to EPA as "trade secrets." As a result, EPA cannot share these data with anyone.

Some protection is reasonable, but the chemical industry has used this loophole to claim that about 95% of the information regarding their new chemicals be kept secret.Tweet This They even make the same claim about many chemicals for which they are required to submit health and safety data.

EPA was given weak tools to help the public

Under TSCA, EPA must contest the thousands of "trade secret" claims on a case-by-case basis. The agency can't keep up, and only manages to examine a small number of the claims made each year.

As a result, the identities of almost 20% of the tens of thousands of chemicals in commercial use in the U.S.—used in products from air fresheners to paints—are kept secret from the government and from you.Tweet This

Posted: 25-May-2010; Updated: 25-May-2010