It looks like Europe is taking the lead in new restrictions on makers of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems, changes that will force U.S. industries to change the way they produce a wide range of everyday products. New European Union laws require companies to demonstrate that a chemical is safe before it enters commerce– the complete opposite of current U.S. policies, where regulators must prove that a chemical is harmful before it can be restricted or removed from the market.
A Washington Post article out today says the changes in Europe follow eight years of vigorous opposition from the U.S. chemical industry and the Bush administration, including the EPA, Commerce Dept, State Dept., and Trade Representative. In 2002, then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powel directed the staffs of American Embassies in Europe to oppose the measure with talking points developed in consultation with the American Chemistry Council.
Under the E.U. laws, manufacturers must study and report the risks posed by specific chemicals. Through the Internet, the data will be available for the first time to consumers, regulators and potential litigants around the world. Until now, much of that information either did not exist or was closely held by companies.
The laws also call for the European Union to create a list of “substances of very high concern” — those suspected of causing cancer or other health problems. Any manufacturer wishing to produce or sell a chemical on that list must receive authorization.
In the United States, laws in place for three decades have made banning or restricting chemicals extremely difficult. The nation’s chemical policy, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, grandfathered in about 62,000 chemicals then in commercial use. Chemicals developed after the law’s passage did not have to be tested for safety. Instead, companies were asked to report toxicity information to the government, which would decide if additional tests were needed.
In more than 30 years, the Environmental Protection Agency has required additional studies for about 200 chemicals, a fraction of the 80,000 chemicals that are part of the U.S. market. The government has had little or no information about the health hazards or risks of most of those chemicals.
The EPA has banned only five chemicals since 1976. The hurdles are so high for the agency that it has been unable to ban asbestos, which is widely acknowledged as a likely carcinogen and is barred in more than 30 countries. Instead, the EPA relies on industry to voluntarily cease production of suspect chemicals.
The article says one chemical likely to be banned is perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), used to make Teflon and other substances used in food packaging, carpet, clothing and electrical equipment. A suspected carcinogen, it accumulates in the environment and in human tissue.
Photo credit: EU Link
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