Posted on April 10, 2013

ADAO applauds Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and the other 27 senators who introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2013 today.

“The Safe Chemicals Act of 2013 is an important piece of legislation that would comprehensively reform the grossly outdated Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976, which fails to protect many Americans from over 85,000 toxic chemicals,” said Linda Reinstein, ADAO Co-Founder. “Asbestos, a known carcinogen, is responsible for the largest man-made environmental disaster.  Americans need and deserve legislation to reform TSCA to prevent toxic exposures to eliminate disabilities and deaths. The facts are irrefutable,yet the United States continues to import asbestos to ‘meet manufacturing needs.'”

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.

ADAO stands proudly with Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families in support of the Safe Chemicals Act of 2013 to protect American families from toxic exposures.

Click here to read ADAO’s guest blog for Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, “Asbestos: Ignorance Is Not Bliss, It’s Deadly.”

Note: In addition to Senators Lautenberg and Gillibrand, the cosponsors of the Safe Chemicals Act of 2013 are Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Tom Udall (D-NM), Max Baucus  (D-MT), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Al Franken (D-MN), Jon Tester (D-MT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Richard “Mo” Cowan (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Angus King (I-ME).