The U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act was passed in 1976 and out of 83,000 chemicals and classes of chemicals listed in the U.S. Environment Protection Agency’s (EPA) inventory the EPA has banned, limited or restricted the use of only 5 toxic substances out of the 83,000 listed since 1976! Does this mean that the manufacturers of toxic substances are safe to be used in our food containers, cleaning products, carpets, toys and so on?
On the contrary, in America, unlike Europe, manufacturers of toxic substances still do not have to do a thing to prove that the chemicals they manufacture are safe. It is up to the U.S. government’s EPA to prove toxic substances safe for use by American consumers and we all know how understaffed and underfunded the U.S. government consumer protection agencies tend to be.
The EPA cannot even collect information about the hazards of toxic substances from chemical manufacturers because the manufacturers are protected from divulging “trade secret” safeguards embedded in the Toxic Control Act of 1976. There is so much protection for manufacturers in the Toxic Control Act that even asbestos, that has long been proved to cause cancer and other fatal diseases, still has not been banned for use in the U.S.
In the European Union (EU) it is up to the manufacturers of toxic substances to prove that the chemicals they manufacture are safe for consumers and the environment. Making the manufacturers responsible for consumer safety makes more sense than putting the burden of consumer safety on the U.S. government. Critics charge the laws in America need to be updated so consumers in America will no longer be treated like lab rats for experimentation to help make sure chemicals are safe before exposing consumers to them.
SUPPLEMENTAL SOURCE: CONSUMER REPORTS MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2013