Calls for US chemicals reform

Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay/Washington D.C., US

A US senator has argued it is time 'to sound the alarm' over the state of the country's regulatory system for determining the toxicity of chemicals, and announced plans to reform the US Toxic Substances Control Act.

Senator Frank Lautenberg made the statement during a Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee hearing on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) on 2 December. The 1976 act has been criticised by both federal and industrial groups as ineffective. Under the current TSCA setup, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has only been able to test 200 chemicals out of more than 80,000 substances listed in the TSCA inventory, Lautenberg said in his statement to the committee. Of these 200, only five have been restricted by the agency.  More...

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2009/December/09120902.asp