Introduction
There is a growing consensus among scientists, health care providers, health and environment advocates, consumer product companies, and even the chemical industry that, when it comes to protecting Americans from toxic chemicals, current law has not kept up with the times.
The primary chemical safety law, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA), gave all chemicals that were in existence prior to 1976 a free pass by not requiring any testing for safety in order to remain on the market. In the 34 years since TSCA was enacted, the Environmental Protection Agency has required testing on just 200 of the more than 80,000 chemicals produced and used in the U.S. over that same period. Introduction Much has changed since 1976: chemicals have become more pervasive in daily life and scientists have developed a more complex understanding of how people are exposed to chemicals and how such exposures can contribute to serious illness, including cancer, reproductive and developmental disorders, neurological diseases, and asthma.
Making the health care case for reform
The members of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition believe that, by reforming TSCA, we can reduce exposure to toxic chemicals, improve our nation’s health, and lower health care costs. This report summarizes some of the scientific studies documenting that chemicals are contributing to the growing burden of chronic disease in our country, and offers an analysis of the economic benefits of reform.
Specifically, we review the growing scientific literature linking chemical exposures to six categories of chronic conditions that impact the daily lives of millions of Americans: certain types of cancer, learning and developmental disabilities, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, reproductive health and fertility problems, and asthma. This report also incorporates the results of published studies that estimate the portion of our disease burden that is attributable to chemical exposures and the potential health cost savings from improved protection from toxic chemicals.
