Landmark Chemical Legislation Introduced to Protect the Health of American Families
Thursday, April 15, 2010
By: Carin Yavorcik

Coalition of 11 Million Supports Bill, But Seeks Improvements before Enactment

A broad coalition of more than 200 public health and environmental organizations announced their support for the “Safe Chemicals Act of 2010,” introduced today by Senator Lautenberg and Congressmen Waxman and Rush. The long-awaited landmark legislation would overhaul the way the federal government protects the public from toxic chemicals, currently regulated by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The Autism Society, along with the other members of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition, hopes that this important step forward will help protect the health of those affected by autism and other vulnerable populations.

“I am thrilled to see Senator Lautenberg, Chairman Waxman and Chairman Rush begin moving such important legislation,” said Autism Society President and CEO Lee Grossman. “Reforming TSCA is a critical first step in addressing the environmental health issues surrounding autism. I am proud that the Autism Society is taking the lead in the autism community in efforts to educate and empower the public on the impact of the environment on their health and the health of future generations.” The Autism Society is only autism-specific organization participating in the stakeholder discussion process to provide feedback and build consensus around the bill.

The new legislation would amend TSCA, which has never been significantly amended since its adoption in 1976. Of the 80,000 chemicals available for use in the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been able to require safety testing of only 200. Since its passage, evidence has been accumulating that chemicals such as lead, mercury, bisphenol A (BPA), and polybrominated diphenylethers (flame retardants) may harm the developing brain at levels much lower than those previously considered safe.

Meanwhile, the rates of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have risen sharply in the last decade, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in December 2009 that one in 110 children will be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Scientists suspect that an increasing number of environmental triggers, possibly including chemical neurotoxins such as those regulated in the new bill, coupled with genetic vulnerability could explain the dramatic increases in the rates of ASD around the world. These toxins could also exacerbate currently existing symptoms of ASD.

While there are differences between the House and Senate versions of the legislation, the Safe Chemicals Act includes a number of essential reforms that would substantially improve public health protections: 

• Requiring chemical companies to develop and make publicly available basic health and safety information for all chemicals;
• Requiring chemicals to meet a safety standard that protects vulnerable sub-populations, including pregnant women and children;
• A new program to identify communities that are “hot spots” for toxic chemicals and to take action to reduce exposures; and
• Expediting safety determinations and actions to restrict some of the most notorious chemicals, like formaldehyde, vinyl chloride, and flame retardants.

“The Safe Chemicals Act goes a long way toward bringing chemical policy into the 21st century,” said Andy Igrejas, Director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, on a press teleconference held today. “We look forward to working with Congress to strengthen the bill to keep dangerous chemicals out of the marketplace.”

While supporting the legislation, the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition called for improvements in three critical areas. As currently drafted, the legislation would: 

• Allow hundreds of new chemicals to enter the market and be used in products for many years without first requiring them to be shown to be safe;
• Not provide clear authority for EPA to immediately restrict production and use of the most dangerous chemicals, even persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals like asbestos and lead, which already have been extensively studied and are restricted by governments around the world; and
• Would not require EPA to adopt the National Academy of Sciences’ recommendations to incorporate the best and latest science when determining the safety of chemicals, although the Senate bill does call on EPA to consider those recommendations.

Click here to take action and ask your Representative and Senators to cosponsor and work to strengthen this legislation.

To learn more about the Senate bill, visit Senator Lautenberg's Web site. To learn more about the House draft, visit the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Web site.

This legislation addresses one aspect of the full range of environmental concerns in autism. The Autism Society has been a leader in the autism community regarding environmental health and is a founding member of the Safer Chemical Health Families coalition. To learn more about environmental health and autism, please visit the Autism Society’s Environmental Health Initiative at www.autism-society.org/research_envirohealth.

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