Congress and Trade Groups Target Potentially Toxic Chemicals in Consumer Products

By Mike Rozembajgier

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently issued a report highly critical of what it considers a lack of oversight of toxic chemicals found in everyday consumer products. The report, which focuses on the vulnerability of children and their exposure to potentially dangerous chemicals, calls for “chemical-management policy to be re-written in the United States.”

Current regulations governing chemicals in manufactured products are based on the Toxic and Substance Control Act (TSCA) passed in 1976. But many consider the Act to be ineffective in protecting against dangerous chemical exposure. Over the past 30 years the TSCA has been used to regulate only five chemicals or chemical classes of the tens of thousands that are found in a wide variety of consumer products, from the paper receipts you get at the supermarket to baby bottles and laundry detergent.

The AAP is not alone in recognizing the potential danger. U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg recently introduced a bill to update the TSCA. If passed, Senator Lautenberg’s proposal would give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) greater authority to remove from the marketplace any chemicals that are found to be unsafe.

Consumer products now face little or no oversight, and companies are expected to perform their own voluntary research. Senator Lautenberg’s bill would require toxicity testing before chemicals are allowed to be introduced into the products that we commonly use every day.

The AAP is calling for similar regulations. It is asking that manufacturers be held responsible for “developing the information about chemicals before marketing.” It is proposing that the EPA be given the authority to demand additional oversight to limit, or even stop, the marketing of products containing unsafe chemicals. Before you dismiss all this as bureaucratic overkill, consider that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has previously documented that many of these potentially dangerous chemicals are showing up in human tissue, blood, urine, and breast milk.

Bisphenol A, or BPA as it is commonly referred to, a chemical commonly found in food packaging and on paper receipts, has recently made headlines after a study confirmed that it can leak into food products and can be easily transferred to the skin. BPA exposure has been linked to several types of cancer, among other health risks. While many companies are only now advocating the removal of BPA from manufactured products, it might have been helpful to have had in place tougher testing and oversight so that BPA could have been regulated as soon as it went on the market.

Both the AAP and Senator Lautenberg’s efforts could have a huge impact on future regulation of the chemicals found in consumer products. Companies the manufacture consumer products with chemicals that could potentially be affected by new and evolving regulations should pay careful attention to these developments and adapt their compliance programs and recall planning processes accordingly.

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