Use of potentially harmful chemicals kept secret under law (WaPo)

[highplainsdem]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/03/AR2010010302110.html

Use of potentially harmful chemicals kept secret under law

By Lyndsey Layton
Monday, January 4, 2010

Of the 84,000 chemicals in commercial use in the United States -- from flame retardants in furniture to household cleaners -- nearly 20 percent are secret, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, their names and physical properties guarded from consumers and virtually all public officials under a little-known federal provision.

The policy was designed 33 years ago to protect trade secrets in a highly competitive industry. But critics -- including the Obama administration -- say the secrecy has grown out of control, making it impossible for regulators to control potential dangers or for consumers to know which toxic substances they might be exposed to.

At a time of increasing public demand for more information about chemical exposure, pressure is building on lawmakers to make it more difficult for manufacturers to cloak their products in secrecy. Congress is set to rewrite chemical regulations this year for the first time in a generation.

Under the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, manufacturers must report to the federal government new chemicals they intend to market. But the law exempts from public disclosure any information that could harm their bottom line.

Government officials, scientists and environmental groups say that manufacturers have exploited weaknesses in the law to claim secrecy for an ever-increasing number of chemicals. In the past several years, 95 percent of the notices for new chemicals sent to the government requested some secrecy, according to the Government Accountability Office. About 700 chemicals are introduced annually.

Some companies have successfully argued that the federal government should not only keep the names of their chemicals secret but also hide from public view the identities and addresses of the manufacturers.

-snip-

The identities of the chemicals are known to a handful of EPA employees who are legally barred from sharing that information with other federal officials, state health and environmental regulators, foreign governments, emergency responders and the public.

-snip-

[Lorien]

1. Cases of cancer, autism, fibromyalgia and bi-polar disorder, among others

have skyroceted over the past two decades.I've long believed that toxins in the environment may very well be the culprits; "secret" chemicals in food, household products and industrial waste. What will it take to overturn this absurd law?

[Hekate]

4. Autism: I long ago became convinced that the soaring rates are due to environmental toxins...

... and that these poor kids are this society's "canaries in the coal mine" dying of the poisoned air.

In California, thimerosol was removed from all pediatric vaccines, yet the rate of autism among children continues to climb. That additive may have been a contributing factor, but if so it is only one of thousands -- and parents are left blundering in the dark without access to information.

I am very grateful that the Obama administration is among the critics that want to see this pernicious law overturned. We sure didn't get any help from the Bushites.

Hekate

[Alameda]

2. What the? I 'm constantly amazed at how far this crap keeps going

[highplainsdem]

7. So am I. But it shows (once again) how corporations control our government.

[DKRC]

3. Too bad we can't look at their shopping list

"The identities of the chemicals are known to a handful of EPA employees who are legally barred from sharing that information ..."

What they buy for their own families would be instructive.

[valerief]

6. What a way cool idea! nt

[valerief]

5. I want to know all the crap in fragrances. nt