Kowalko Addresses Toxic Chemical Reform
If you didn’t get a chance to read the Jeff Montgomery articles on tainted groundwater, put down that glass of water and read it now. Seriously, put down the water. You come away from that series feeling like a passenger that has no knowledge of boats, but just found out that your ship is sinking in heavy seas. It may be worse, since so few of us understand how these chemicals interact with our bodies or how we can clean them out of the water.
John Kowalko had a letter in the paper today discussing an associated issue, The Safe Chemicals Act of 2010:
Having recently attended a three day Chemical Policy Reform Forum with the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators in Washington D.C., I feel it is imperative to inform your readers and all Delawareans of the need to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 and urge them to contact our federal delegation to support the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010.
Every year since its inception in 1971, the President’s Cancer Panel has released annual reports that bring critical information to the forefront on the status of cancer in this country. The Panel, an authoritative and bipartisan body, just released this year’s report and, for the first time, it focuses on environmentally induced cancers. These cancers result from exposure to cancer-causing chemicals and pollution.
The findings in this report should act as a call to action for public officials at every level of government here in Delaware and around the nation. It concludes that “the true burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated”, and recommends significant changes to better protect people from cancer-causing chemicals.
Widespread cancer is a public health tragedy that currently affects families across my district, our state and our nation. Although some forms of cancer, such as lung cancer, are on the decrease according to the National Cancer Institute, about 41 percent of all Americans will still be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. Approximately 21 percent of us will die from it. In 2009 alone, approximately 1.5 million new cancer cases were diagnosed in this country.
When it comes to taking action on harmful chemicals, states like Delaware and others have taken responsible actions to eliminate toxic substances in everyday consumer products such as mercury, toxic flame retardants, lead, bisphenol A etc. Now it’s time for Congress to step up and support The Safe Chemicals Act of 2010.
Evidence that toxic chemicals in consumer products like toys, mattresses, shower curtains, garden hoses, and food containers are contaminating our bodies and environment is growing. A recent study, “Earliest Exposures”, found pregnant women have chemicals in their bodies that expose their fetuses to harmful toxins. This new evidence, along with a healthy dose of public demand, has prompted many state legislatures to take action where the federal government has failed.
Delaware and other well-meaning states can only do so much to protect our residents from harmful chemicals. That’s because the federal law that regulates chemicals, called the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is over 30 years old and hasn’t been modernized to address advancements in science, information and technology. There are over 80,000 chemicals on the market today and of those only 200 have been tested for safety. As a result of gaps in the federal law, states that want to protect their residents from chemical like lead or phtalates face an uphill battle. Very little health and safety information on chemicals is available. Chemical companies and makers of consumer products don’t have to disclose much information about the chemicals they use and the government doesn’t collect it. The burden of proof of harm is on the EPA and there is currently no burden of proof of safety imposed on the manufacturer. Therefore, even if a state wants to take action on a particular chemical, it’s difficult to figure out where to start or present evidence.
Fortunately, The Safe Chemicals Act of 2010 was just introduced in the Senate. House leaders have filed a companion discussion draft as well. This bill would overhaul federal regulation of the chemical industry by requiring new health and safety information for all chemicals and requiring chemicals to meet minimum health safety standards to protect the most vulnerable, including the developing fetus and young children.
While it’s a great start, there are critical areas even in the new bill that must be strengthened. For example, it makes it too hard to get known dangerous chemicals off the market, such as “Persistent Bioaccumulative and Toxic” chemicals (PBTs) like lead and brominated flame retardants. This could potentially allow hundreds of new chemicals to enter the market and be used in products for many tears without first requiring them to be shown as safe.
The Delaware Congressional Delegation should strengthen and support the Safe Chemicals Act, including a phase out of PBT chemicals, particularly those that are building up in the bodies of pregnant women and young children, to ensure an effective federal tool to complement our state chemical laws. The game against toxic chemicals is heating up and it’s Congress’ turn at the plate to hit the game winner.
I urge you to join with me in mobilizing support for these reforms that will lead to fewer people in our communities doing battle with cancer and fewer health care dollars being spent on diseases that could be prevented if we update our laws wisely.
The bill is currently in the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, which Tom Carper sits on. So our support can actually have an impact (at least theoretically).
Tags: Health, kowalko, The Environment
Delaware’s cancer incidence is down slightly and cancer mortality is down 19%. But still higher than national numbers.
And there will be new analysis of the cancer cluster areas coming soon that might shed some light when correlated with the reported locations of contaminated water supplies:
Montgomery’s article was easily 20 years too late. The chemical industry, and the duPont Company in particular, have consistently killed legit investigations into Delaware’s high cancer rate.
Every time a legislative task force was proposed, the DuPont Company either (a) fought to quash it; and/or (b) found a way to insure that any panel was heavily weighted towards the industry.
Dave Brady sought to pass Worker’s Right to Know legislation back in 1984, which would have enabled workers to know the toxicity of the materials they worked with and the risks associated with them. It even passed the House. Sen. Herman Holloway, who should have been looking out for his constituents’ interests, instead buried the bill in the Senate and offered up a ‘Task Force’ that was controlled by the chemical industry.
When the issue came up during Mike Castle’s gubernatorial reign, Castle argued that our high cancer rate was caused by too much cigarette smoking and people eating too many subs.
‘Saint’ Joe diPinto, a former duPont employee, argued that, in order to really tell how much of Delaware’s cancer rate was caused or exacerbated by the chemical industry, you’d have to go back and trace the path that each and every cancer victim took, information which, of course, one would never be able to come up with.
When it comes to denying the strong link between the chemicals that have polluted our air, land and water and Delaware’s high cancer rate, the industry has been every bit as successful as the tobacco industry was in touting quack pseudo-science to give them plausible deniability.
All of the co-conspirators in this tawdry and tragic deception should be ashamed of themselves but, having no consciences, aren’t.
Oh, and as for Carper, his first DNREC Secretary was Christophe Tolou, whose wife was an oil industry lobbyist. In Carperesque fashion, Tolou touted ‘win-win’ situations, as in both industry and the public would win.
I’ve got two words for Tolou: Delaware City.
There is no way that the Corporate Whore Who Is Tom Carper will ever do what’s right with this legislation.
At least it’s one more thing to use when this phony career ‘public servant’ is up for reelection. It’s never too early to find someone credible to run against him.
Another Liberal claim to fame. Delaware Today had a detailed article on the same matter years ago.
Maybe KoWACKO can tell everyone how he abused disability policy to run for office. How about a law to not abuse benefits? Huh John?
Why did the make believe Governor Markell work so hard to get another polluter to replace Valero is the Libs care about pollution. Because they want an issue to blabber about not solve anything.
The Libs/Dems are the party of NO.
Another Dbag using all two of his brain cells for debate
The potential for TSCA reform is quite exciting, but it should be done in a way that doesn’t sacrifice millions of animals (for toxicity testing) in the name of better protection for human health and the environment. The revised bill needs to mandate and create market incentives to use nonanimal methods and tests.
I agree that we should use the latest science to assess chemicals. Instead of poisoning animals and attempting to apply that data to humans — which hasn’t worked out so far — we need to make sure a reformed TSCA relies on modern human cell and computer-based methods that provide more accurate data on how a chemical acts on cells and what the impact on human health may be.