WASHINGTON, D.C.– U.S. Senator Angus S. King, Jr. (I-Maine) this week joined 27 of his Senate colleagues in reintroducing the “Safe Chemicals Act” to protect Americans from dangerous toxic chemicals that are found in everyday products. The legislation reforms the Toxic Substances Control Act to give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the tools it needs to collect health and safety information, screen chemicals for safety, and require risk management when chemicals cannot be proven safe. Under current law, the EPA can call for safety testing only after evidence surfaces demonstrating a chemical is dangerous.

“It’s unacceptable that current toxic substance protection law has not been updated in forty years,” said Senator King. “Mainers deserve to know that the products they are buying are safe for themselves and their families. For far too long, they’ve been exposed to harmful substances in basic household items like baby bottles and dishware. The Safe Chemicals Act will make responsible changes to current law to provide the EPA with the tools to better ensure that consumer products are safe.”

BACKGROUND: Testing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found more than 212 industrial chemicals in Americans’ bodies, including at least six known carcinogens and dozens that are linked to cancer, birth defects, and other diseases.  Many of these chemicals are found in a wide-range of consumer products including cleaners, detergents, furniture, food packaging, electronics, vinyl products, non-stick cookware, and even children’s products.  Research has shown that children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to toxic chemical exposures. 

The Safe Chemicals Act would:

• Allow EPA to secure health and safety information for new and existing chemicals, while avoiding duplicative or unnecessary testing.
• Screen chemicals for safety by prioritizing chemicals based on risk, so that EPA can focus resources on evaluating those most likely to cause harm while working through the backlog of untested existing chemicals.
• Require risk management of chemicals that cannot be proven safe.  This can include labeling, disposal requirements, restricted uses, or even full chemical bans.   
• Establish a public database to catalog the health and safety information submitted by chemical manufacturers and the EPA’s safety determinations, while also protecting trade secrets.
• Promote innovation and development of safe chemical alternatives.

The text of the bill can be found here and a full summary of the bill can be found here.

The Safe Chemicals Act of 2013 is supported by the the National Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, the United Steelworkers, the Blue Green Alliance, the Breast Cancer Fund, and the 450 member Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Coalition

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