"As more and more chemicals are found in our bodies and the environment, the public is understandably anxious and confused. Many are turning to government for assurance that chemicals have been assessed using the best available science, and that unacceptable risks haven't been ignored," Jackson told an audience of several hundred people during a speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Tuesday night.
An audience member asked if the EPA would add the right of citizens to sue for non-compliance of the law, a provision that lies within the Clean Water Act.
"That's a great idea," she said, and "it was certainly something to consider.", President Obama's top environmental official announced on Tuesday a new push to transform the way the nation regulates industrial compounds.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson called the nation's 1976 toxics law "inordinately cumbersome and time-consuming." As a result, she said the Obama Administration will promote a new chemical law in Congress in the coming months that puts the responsibility on industry to prove that its compounds are safe.
In the meantime, Jackson said, the EPA will begin to analyze and regulate six high-profile chemicals that have raised health concerns. Included are bisphenol A, or BPA, found in hard, clear polycarbonate bottles, and phthalates, which are used in vinyl and cosmetics.
Also targeted are brominated flame retardants added to electronics and other goods; perfluorinated compounds used in manufacturing non-stick coatings and food packaging; some parafins, used in lubricants, and benzidine dyes and pigments. Many scientists say these chemicals can mimic hormones and obstruct development of fetuses and children, as well as possibly cause reproductive problems, cancer or other health effects.
Under the current law, some 7,000 chemicals are produced or imported annually in amounts above 25,000 pounds, according to industry figures. Only five have been banned or restricted since the law was enacted 33 years ago. The law requires the EPA to prove a toxic substance "presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment," consider the costs of restricting its use and choose "the least burdensome" approach to regulate industry. Asbestos was banned in most uses, but it was thrown out of court when the manufacturers won a court battle in 1989. "The asbestos decision had a chilling effect" on EPA, Jackson said.
Many experts say the United States has fallen far behind in regulating toxic substances. In 2007, the European Union began implementing the world's most restrictive chemicals law. It requires manufacturers to provide basic data on the properties of thousands of chemical substances. The European Chemicals Agency then will review the chemicals, and require substitution of the most dangerous ones.
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