House Holds TSCA Reform Hearing September 18, 2013

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is holding a hearing on TSCA Reform Wednesday, September 18, 2013. Starting at 2 pm EDT, the hearing will be held live in the 2123 Rayburn House Building hearing room. A live webcast can be viewed when the hearing begins.

The title of the hearing is: “Regulation of Existing Chemicals and the Role of Pre-Emption under Sections 6 and 18 of the Toxic Substances Control Act."

This continues a series of "fact-finding" hearings sponsored by the House. A TSCA reform bill called the Safe Chemicals Improvement Act will introduced by the late Senator Frank Lautenberg and Senator David Vitter. The bipartisan bill has substantial support on both sides of the aisle in the Senate, though EPW Chair Barbara Boxer is not one of them. One of the concerns raised by both parties are the preemption provisions. Boxer and the state of California (and other states) are concerned the current Senate bill's provisions will block any state action on toxic chemicals even if EPA does not take sufficient action to protect human health and the public. Hence the House focus on that issue in today's hearing.

The list of witnesses is below, along with links to their written testimony. The hearing is expected to be livecast on the committee's web page.

Panel One:

Mark A. Greenwood

Principal

• Greenwood Environmental Counsel PLLC
• Washington, D.C.
• Witness Testimony (Truth in Testimony and CV)

Justin Johnson, Deputy Secretary

• Vermont Agency for Natural Resources
• Waterbury, VT 
• On behalf of the Environmental Council of the States
• Witness Testimony (Truth in Testimony and CV)

William K. Rawson

• Partner and Chair, Chemical Regulation, 
• Product Strategy & Defense Practice
• Latham & Watkins, LLP
• Washington, D.C.
• Witness Testimony (Truth in Testimony and CV)

Jennifer Thomas

• Director, Federal Government Affairs
• Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
• Washington, DC
• Witness Testimony (Truth in Testimony and CV)

Lemuel M. Srolovic 

• Chief, Environmental Protection Bureau 
• NYS Office of the Attorney General
• New York, New York
• Witness Testimony (Truth in Testimony and CV)

Linda Reinstein

• President/CEO and Co-Founder
• Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
• Redondo Beach, California
• Witness Testimony (Truth in Testimony and CV)

House Subcommittee Hearing on Toxic Substances Control Act

On June 13, 2013 the House Energy & Commerce Committee's Subscommittee on Environment and the Economy will hold a hearing titled "Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act: Understanding its History and Reviewing its Impact." This hearing begins the process in the House as the Senate begins debate on the bipartisan Lautenberg-Vitter Safer Chemical Improvement Act bill introduced in the Senate.

Witnesses invited to speak are:

Kathleen M. Roberts
B&C Consortia Management LLC (a legal and consulting firm)

Charles M. Auer
Charles M. Auer & Associates LLC (consulting firm; former head of EPA's chemicals group)

Alfredo Gomez
Government Accountability Office (researches and produces analysis of government programs)

Beth Bosley
Boron Specialties LLC (industry)

Jeanne Rizzo
Breast Cancer Fund (health advocacy)

Daniel Rosenberg
Natural Resources Defense Council (environmental NGO)

The hearing will take place on June 13th at 10:15 am room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building. More details and the invitation-only witnesses will be posted on the Energy and Commerce subcommittee's webpage.

A background memo is available.

26 States to Consider Toxic Chemicals Legislation in 2013

As TSCA reform enters another year without any resolution, at least 26 states are considering action to enhance protection of public health and the environment from exposure to chemicals. According to the advocacy coalition, Safer States:

In 2013, we expect at least 26 states to consider legislation and policy changes that will:

• Restrict or label the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in receipts, children's products and food packaging.
• Require removal of certain toxic flame retardants from children's products, home furniture or building materials.
• Change disclosure rules so that concerned consumers will have a way to identify toxic chemicals in products.
• Encourage manufacturers to remove identified toxic chemicals in favor of safer alternatives.
• Ban cadmium, a dangerous, persistent metal that is often found in inexpensive children's jewelry.
• Ban formaldehyde from cosmetics and children's products.
• Promote green cleaning products in schools.

Safer States states that "We believe families, communities, and the environment should be protected from the devastating impacts of our society’s heavy use of chemicals. We believe that new state and national chemical policies will contribute to the formation of a cleaner, greener economy." They have also been highly critical of industry, reporting on what it sees as misplaced priorities "inside the toxic chemical industry."

So state efforts continue. At the federal level, Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg has indicated that he will reintroduce his Safer Chemicals Act. The SCA was passed out of committee last year but never came to the Senate floor for debate or vote. The committee-passed version includes substantial changes from the original bill, including many adjustments to take into consideration concerns expressed by industry. Still, industry widely denounced the bill as unworkable, a position that Richard Denison of the Environmental Defense Fund and Andy Igrejas of Safer Chemicals Healthy Families have asserted is disingenuous at best. Industry is, however, reportedly working with Republican Senator David Vitter on what is effectively an industry-sponsored bill. It is unclear when or if Vitter's bill will be introduced, but any such bill would at least provide a counter-position to that of Lautenberg and offer opportunity for substantive debate.

Lautenberg Joins "Stroller Brigade" to Push for TSCA Chemical Reform

Senator Frank Lautenberg joined a "stroller brigade" of mothers from 30 states yesterday in support of TSCA reform.  This follows on the heels of a call from Senator Dick Durbin to modernize the 36 year old law.  According to Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, the "National Stroller Brigade builds on 30 local events in support of the Safe Chemicals Act, in locations as diverse as Little Rock and Omaha.  Hundreds of moms – many with children in tow – flew or bused into Washington to deliver 130,000 petition signatures to their Senators."

Lautenberg introduced the Safe Chemicals Act in 2011 and some hearings were held in Congress, but no recent action has taken place and very few people think a bill can be passed during this election year.  Even if the bill did pass in the Senate it is unlikely to be taken up in the Republican-controlled House.  The stroller brigade was designed to try to encourage lawmakers to address the issue.

“If there is one overwhelming message from years of science, it’s that exposure to toxic chemicals early in our lives is responsible for some of the cancer, infertility, and other health problems that affect millions of Americans,” said Andy Igrejas of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. “However, Congress has been paralyzed. We’re here to break the gridlock and demand common sense limits on toxic chemicals.”

Lautenberg, Durbin and 14 other co-sponsors of the bill (all Democrats) are trying to get passage during this term.  All parties, including the chemical industry, agree that modernization of TSCA is necessary.  However, industry opposes the current bill. Democrats are frustrated that despite their altering the bill several times to make it more industry-friendly, industry has not sat down with Congressional staff to agree on what features would work for them.  This frustration was palpable during a Senate hearing last year. Industry, on the other hand, feels that the current bill is unworkable and that any TSCA reform bill must essentially start from scratch.

Given that all sides (Government, EPA, NGOs, and Industry) all agree that modernization is necessary, and that substantial reworking of the principles and proposed requirements has occurred as the various bills evolved, it seems that the lack of a successful TSCA reform is due to politics rather than science.

Lautenberg expressed his frustration in his press release:

“It’s shocking that toxic chemicals end up in everyday consumer products, and in our bodies, without anyone proving that they are safe. The stroller brigade is carrying an important message to Congress that we're not going to stand by and let our kids continue to be exposed to chemicals that make them sick.  Concerned moms are the best weapons we have in this fight.  With their help, I will keep advancing the Safe Chemicals Act to reform our broken toxic chemical laws and provide a healthier future for our families.”

Senator Durbin Calls for Passage of Safe Chemicals Act

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin has called upon his colleagues to pass the Safe Chemicals Act, "which would update and modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976." Durbin calls the 36 year old law “antiquated and ineffective” and desperately in need of reform. TSCA governs the regulation of chemicals in the United States with the goal of protecting human health and the environment.

On his web page Durbin notes that:

“The U.S. EPA, wittingly or unwittingly, has allowed the manufacturers of toxic chemicals to flood American households with substances that abundant scientific evidence finds harmful.  The Chicago Tribune series published this week reveals that flame retardant chemicals added to furniture and other household goods are not only useless, but also toxic for our families – especially young children.  The disturbing truth is that flame retardants are only one example of the many toxic substances that have made their way into American homes as a result of self-serving chemical companies and the weak, ineffective federal law that has regulated chemical safety standards since 1976.  We have to come together on a bipartisan basis to pass the Safe Chemicals Act and provide Illinois families with the basic level of safety they expect.”

The Chicago Tribune series he mentions refers to an investigative journalism series published this month that "uncovered flawed testing, products that don’t work, unscrupulous “experts,” shoddy science and stalled government reform." The reporting focused on

The Safe Chemicals Act bill was introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey in April 2011 and remains in limbo with no action.  The last hearing was held in November 2011 and expectations are low that it will be taken up for a vote in this election year.  Even if the bill was passed in the Democratically-held Senate there is virtually no chance the Republican House would consider further regulation.  With the potential for the Republican's to gain control of the Senate in addition to holding the House in the fall, it seems unlikely that TSCA reform has much chance of seeing the light of day for many years, if ever.

Senator Durbin's full press release is available here.

The Chicago Tribune series can be found here.

A statement from the NGO Safer Chemicals Healthy Families can be read here.

A related statement from the American Chemistry Council can be read here.

EPA Promotes Safer Alternatives to Nonylphenol Ethoxylates

According to the USEPA:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released the final report on alternatives to nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE) through the Design for the Environment (DfE) Alternatives Assessment Program. NPEs are widely used surfactants with a range of industrial applications and are commonly found in consumer products, such as laundry detergents. When released into the environment, they can be persistent and highly toxic to aquatic organisms. The report identifies eight safer alternatives to NPE that meet EPA’s criteria for safer surfactants.

“I applaud the product manufacturers who have stopped using NPEs and switched to safer alternatives and the chemical manufacturers who have made the safer alternatives available,” said Jim Jones, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP). “This report shows the important strides that have been made to identify safer alternatives and the progress being made to phase out NPEs in detergents and reduce its use in other applications. By developing rigorous technical assessments through public participation, EPA can help successfully encourage the transition to safer chemicals.”  

The report provides information on the availability of safer alternatives, DfE’s hazard evaluation method for surfactants, and the progress being made in adopting safer surfactants.  Using rigorous hazard-based criteria, EPA evaluated hundreds of chemicals for their biodegradability and their potential effects to aquatic organisms.

DfE’s Alternatives Assessment Program helps industries choose safer chemicals and offers a basis for informed decision-making by providing a detailed comparison of the potential human health and environmental effects of chemical alternatives. To date, the DfE program has labeled more than 2,700 safer products, including detergents that contain only safer surfactants and other chemicals. All companies participating in the DfE Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative have eliminated NPE from their product lines to meet DfE criteria.

More information on the DfE Alternatives Assessment Program and the NPEs Report:
http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/npe/index.htm

With No TSCA Chemical Reform on the Horizon, States Take the Lead

With TSCA reform at the federal level highly unlikely to occur in this election year, the individual states are expected to step up their ongoing battle to protect human health and the environment from chemicals. According to Safer States, "at least 28 state legislatures will consider proposals to address continued concerns about toxic chemicals in consumer products."  This builds on "over 80 chemical safety laws [that] have been passed with an overwhelming margin of bi-partisan support in statehouses across the country" during the last nine years.

Safer States is "a network of diverse environmental health coalitions and organizations in states around the country" and is a part of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a "coalition of groups united by their common concern about chemicals in our homes, places of work, and products we use every day."

The organization has posted what they see as highlights of the 2012 state legislative efforts, as follows:

• Identification and Disclosure of Chemicals Harmful to Children. At least 13 states, including Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington will consider policies to identify and ultimately reduce exposures to chemicals of concern, including prioritizing chemicals for state action and requiring manufacturers of consumer products to disclose the chemicals in their products.
• BPA Phase Outs. At least 20 states will consider policy to restrict the use of the hormone-disrupting chemical BPA in infant formula cans, other food packaging, children's products, and receipt paper. Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, New Jersey, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin are all states considering such legislation.
• Tris Flame Retardant Phase Outs. At least four state legislatures will introduce policies to phase out the use of the flame retardant chlorinated Tris in children's products. Chlorinated Tris is a flame retardant that was removed from children's pajamas in the 1970s because of concerns over adverse health effects, including cancer, but has reappeared in other children's products. Connecticut, Maryland, New York, and Washington are legislatures considering such a ban. In addition, Alaska, Michigan, New Jersey and New York legislatures will consider policies to reduce exposure to the flame retardant decaBDE.
• Green Cleaning in Schools. Earlier this month, Vermont passed policy requiring manufacturers to only sell environmentally preferable cleaning products to schools. Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina are considering similar policy.
• Cadmium Bans in Children's Products. At least 5 states will be introducing or have introduced policies to ban the use of cadmium in children's products, including Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, New York, and Tennessee. Cadmium is linked to cancer and other health effects.
• Other policies. Oregon has introduced policy to require the state to reduce toxics through its procurement process. New York is considering policy to restrict formaldehyde in beauty products. Massachusetts and Georgia are also considering policy to improve the safety of cosmetics. Other states have introduced individual chemical restrictions, such as lindane in Michigan and perchloroethelyene in Vermont.

Ironically, while the chemical industry has indicated that it prefers the reform of TSCA on the federal level rather than a patchwork of state and local laws, the lack of action on TSCA is serving as a catalyst for states and municipalities to create that patchwork in earnest.

The full Safer States press release can be viewed and downloaded as a PDF here.

EPA to Initiate Chemical Safety for Sustainability Plan

The USEPA is set to launch a Chemical Safety for Sustainability initiative.  The plan is to use innovative approaches to assess chemical hazard and exposure so this can be accurately communicated to the public.  According to their web site:

EPA scientists and their partners are embracing the principles of green chemistry to produce safer chemicals. They are also integrating a diversity of scientific disciplines to develop new prediction techniques, pioneering the use of innovative technologies for chemical toxicity testing, and designing tools to advance the management of chemical risks. Chemical safety for sustainability includes research in computational toxicology, nanotechnology, endocrine disrupting chemicals, human health, and pesticides.

As part of this ongoing process EPA recently made available two new chemical databases - ToxCastDB and ExpoCastDB.  These supplement the ToxCast robotic screening testing program started earlier by EPA.  The most recent announcement of the Chemical Safety for Sustainability initiative was made during the first meeting of the National Research Council's Committee on Science for EPA's Future, part of the National Academies of Sciences.


The three main areas of focus for the program are:

• Providing scientific knowledge, tools and models for integrated evaluation strategies
• Improving assessment and informing management for chemical safety
• Targeting high priority research needs for immediate and focused attention

Actress Jessica Alba joins Senator Lautenberg to Support TSCA Reform

Who knew Senator Frank Lautenberg could attract Hollywood actresses to support chemical law reform.  But this week that is exactly what the 87 year old New Jersey Senator did on May 24th, 2011.  He even posted a Twitter photo to prove it. 

Jessica Alba joined Lautenberg to support his Safe Chemicals Act of 2011, the newest version of his many attempts to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  Alba said that she was supporting TSCA reform because she is pregnant and is concerned about products intended to be used by young children that may contain chemicals not adequately tested.  She also is a spokesperson for the NGO coalition, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely that Alba's support will change the reality of the current stalemate in Congress.  While in Lautenberg's Senate the Democrats still hold a tiny majority, the House is now under the control of the Republican party, who show no inclination to take any regulatory overhaul other than cutting programs and budgets for agencies such as EPA that are charged with "protecting human health and the environment."  This despite industry assertions that they believe TSCA is in need of reform, aka, modernization.  Needless to say the NGOs believe TSCA reform is needed an have already deemed Lautenberg's newest iteration of the bill to have given in to industry concerns (too much in their opinion).

So it seems all parties say they want TSCA reform, but then don't seem inclined to actually act upon it.

According to Lautenberg:

“Under current policy, EPA can only call for safety testing after evidence surfaces demonstrating a chemical is dangerous. As a result, EPA has been able to require testing for just 200 of the more than 80,000 chemicals currently registered in the United States, and has been able to ban only five dangerous substances.”

NGOs to Deliver Petition to White House Today to Call for Leadership on Chemicals

A coalition of NGOs and advocates for health and environmental safety are delivering a petition today to the White House calling for President Obama to implement last years findings by the President’s Cancer Panel.  Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families is a coalition of more than 100 organizations and "represents more than 11 million individuals and includes parents, health professionals, advocates for people with learning and developmental disabilities, reproductive health advocates, environmentalists and businesses from across the nation."  The petition has been signed by more than 70,000 people according to the group, and calls for strengthening of both the "failed" 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the "ineffective" 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (FDCA).  According to the petition:

Every minute, at least one American will die from cancer. What is particularly frightening about this statistic is that, contrary to general assumption, many of these cancers could have been prevented.

The petition urges "the President to 'most strongly use the power of your office' to eliminate human exposure to cancer-causing chemicals."  It goes on to say:

By setting the course for a national cancer prevention strategy that includes eliminating the use of cancer-causing chemicals, the President can reverse decades of failed policies that have allowed those chemicals to contaminate our lives and endanger our health.

The petition can be viewed on the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families web site.

30 States Introduce Chemical Restriction Laws as TSCA Chemical Reform Lies Dormant

With TSCA reform activities essentially dormant (and perhaps dead), a total of 30 separate US states have introduced chemical reform legislation.  According to the advocacy NGO Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, "on Wednesday, January 19, legislators and advocates in thirty states across the country and the District of Columbia will announce legislation aimed at protecting children and families from harmful chemicals."  They also claim that "despite well-funded opposition from the chemical industry, 18 state legislatures have already passed 71 chemical safety laws in the last eight years by an overwhelming, bipartisan margin – with more to come this year."

Last year both the House and Senate introduced "Safe Chemical" bills in an attempt to modernize the 34-year old Toxic Substances Control Act.  While on the House side there were several stakeholder meetings held to get input so that the bills could be fine-tuned, no substantive action occurred in committee in an effort to get votes on the bills.  Which means they must be reintroduced in this new Congress.  With the Republicans gaining control in the House and narrowing the gap in the Senate, along with the continuing lagging (though improving) economy, it is unclear whether any federal level TSCA reform can get passed this year or next.

With that in mind NGOs are shifting their efforts to encouraging state level action.  According to the NGO's press release:

"The American public is demanding new chemical safety laws, and state elected officials – both Republicans and Democrats – are responding," said Andy Igrejas, Campaign Director of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition. "At some point Congress will wake up and realize it is better for industry and public safety to make these changes at the federal level, as well." 

Planned legislation includes comprehensive state laws in nine states, phase outs of the plasticizer BPA in at least 17 states, calls for federal action in at least 11 states, bans of cadmium in childrens products, and exposure reductions in at least three states to a brominated flame retardant.  More information is available on the SCHF web site.

Note: US state graphic from SCHF.

Washington State Moves Forward on Children's Safe Chemical Rules in Lieu of TSCA Action

I have mentioned previously here that with TSCA chemical reform trudging through Congress on the federal level, the States have continued to move forward with attempts to protect human health and the environment on a more local scale.  One of these efforts is the Children's Safe Product Act (CSPA) passed by Washington State in 2008.  While Governor Gregoire has suspended rulemaking in general because of the state of the economy, she has exempted this particular rule to continue through the development process.  The goal of the proposed law is to focus on protecting children from toxic chemicals.

According to the Department of Ecology, which manages health and safety issues in Washington, the CSPA consists of two parts:

The first part "limited the amount of lead, cadmium and phthalates allowed in children's products sold in Washington after July 1, 2009. These standards were substantially preempted when the U.S. Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in July, 2008. The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission will enforce this act."  So this part is essentially dormant.

"The second part of the CSPA requires Ecology, in consultation with the Department of Health, to develop a list of chemicals that manufacturers must report on. As required by the law, chemicals on the list are toxic and have either been found in children’s products or have been documented to be present in human tissue (blood, breast milk, etc.). However, the mere presence of these chemicals in children’s products does not necessarily indicate that there is a risk of exposure." 

Rules to implement this second part of the CSPA are currently open for public comment until December 31st.  These draft rule list 59 chemicals considered to be of high concern to children.  Most are familiar to people in the chemical control business as they have been targeted by other states as well as federal and international laws.  The law stipulates that the chemicals selected must be known to be toxic, commonly found in products used by children, are used in home environments, and found in biomonitoring of human blood and tissue samples. 

Once the final rules are issued, "manufacturers of children's products must report to Ecology if their products contain these chemicals."  These notifications will be required by law on a particular schedule, but the CSPA does not stipulate what happens once they are notified.  Presumably the state is interested in collecting data on what chemicals, and in what volumes, are used in the state so they can take any needed action.

With Uncertainty About the Future of TSCA Chemical Reform in Congress , States Increase Regulatory Action

I have spent a lot of time on this site talking about various aspects of the attempts to reform/update/modernize the 34-year old Toxic Substances Control Act.  One aspect I've mentioned several times is the work of various states to "fill in the gaps" of the federal level law.  A new report shows that states have stepped up their activity in light of the lack of substantive movement on TSCA reform legislation in the US Congress.

The report, by two health advocacy coalitions - SAFER States and Safer Chemicals Healthy Families - is called "Healthy States" and documents that "states aren’t waiting for Congress to take action on toxic chemicals—they are taking matters into their own hands."

According to the report, "state restrictions on toxic chemicals are on the rise, and will probably continue to increase until Congress overhauls failing federal legislation."  Among other activities, the report highlights:

• In the last eight years, eighteen states have passed 71 chemical safety laws.
• The pace of state policy making on chemicals has more than tripled in eight years.
• Sixty-six laws banned bisphenol A (BPA) in baby and toddler products (with 98% support), phased out toxic flame retardants (PBDEs) in home products (93%), reduced children’s exposure from common products containing lead (88%) and cadmium (86%), and promoted green cleaning.
• State legislators strongly supported recent state laws that create new programs for broad regulation of toxic chemicals. This includes comprehensive laws passed in California, Maine, Minnesota and Washington state.

According to SAFER States, "while Washington DC is stuck in chemical industry politics, the states are growing frustrated and taking matters into their own hands -- passing laws which will help to temper the public outcry until a day comes when we are comfortable with the chemicals that are infiltrating every part of our lives."

The chemical industry has in the past supported the concept (though not necessarily the details) of federal-level TSCA modernization, in large part because they don't want the kind of patchwork regulatory quilt in which state-level regulations would result.  With the 2010 Safe Chemicals Act bills left to die without action, new versions of the bills will need to be introduced in the next Congress.  The change of majority party in the House and the subsequent differences in viewpoint between many key incoming House members and the opposite majority party in the Senate have created some uncertainty about the path forward.  What this report shows is that the states will continue, and likely increase, their state-level action in an effort to 1) deal with the lack of federal-level action in Congress, and 2) stimulate federal-level action in Congress.

The report can be downloaded on either of the two advocacy sites linked above.  A PDF is available here.

New Polling Data Indicates Overwhelming Public Support for Chemicals Regulation

My title is cribbed from the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families (SCHF) announcement of a new poll conducted by the Mellman Group.  According to SCHF, the public opinion poll "finds overwhelming public support for reforming our out-of-date system for managing chemicals."  Furthermore, this support apparently was "regardless of political affiliation," in that "voters are much more likely to support a candidate for public office who promotes better health and safety standards for chemicals."

I haven't read the entire poll yet, but the results SCHF reports are actually somewhat surprising.  Despite the current political environment that seems to favor less government intervention, and at least according to SCHF, there is widespread concern about our exposure to chemicals:

The majority of respondents said they think the threat posed by everyday exposure to toxic chemicals is serious (73%, with 33% saying it is "very serious"). 78% said that the threat posed to children by exposure to everyday toxic chemicals is “serious.” (45% called the threat “very serious.”)

Not surprising, however, is that the poll also seems to suggest that the public looks unfavorably on the chemical industry, with 45% of the public viewing the industry in a bad light.  That pretty much is status quo for the chemical industry, who despite their stewardship efforts are often seen as the bad guys (usually when some chemical is in the news or we find out it is in the blood stream of babies).

All of this plays out in a time when it is likely nothing will happen with TSCA reform this year.  With only a handful of actual legislative days left on the calendar, and a lot of incumbents facing their most challenging reelection bids ever, Congress is in no hurry to pass a bill.  So that 74% of the public that supports stronger controls on "toxic chemicals" will have to wait until at least next year.  And with Congress likely to look a lot different when it gets sworn in next January, the fate of TSCA reform could range from a bill that is workable to no bill at all.

A PDF of the poll can be seen here or on the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families web site.