Toxic roulette - flame retardants - chemicals industry's loophole

[Guest guest]

Autism isn't quite the " mystery " major media and dutiful reporters would

have us believe. ~

eg

Toxic roulette.

<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/flames/ct-met-flames-regulators-201\

20510,0,4262292.story>

By Hawthorne Chicago Tribune 10 May 2012

By the early 2000s, the flame retardant known as penta had become a

villain. The only U.S. company that made penta soon introduced a

replacement, hailing it as the beginning of an eco-friendly era. EPA

promised that the new flame retardant had none of the problems of the

old one. But documents obtained by the Tribune show that scientists

within the EPA were deeply skeptical about the safety of Firemaster 550.

Those EPA scientists predicted that the chemical ingredients of

Firemaster 550 would escape into the environment and break down into

byproducts that would pose lasting health hazards.

Behind the scenes, agency officials asked the manufacturer to conduct

basic health studies, citing the same concerns that forced penta off the

market....

The previously unreleased documents also show how the nation's chemical

safety law, the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, gives the government

little power to assess or limit dangers from the scores of chemicals

added to furniture, electronics, toys, cosmetics and household products.

At a time when consumers clamor for more information about their

exposure to toxic substances, the chemical safety law allows

manufacturers to sell products without proving they are safe and to

treat the formulas as trade secrets. Once health effects are documented,

the law makes it almost impossible for the EPA to ban chemicals.

A growing list of critics --- including the nation's leading group of

pediatricians and the Government Accountability Office, the

investigative arm of Congress --- are calling for a sweeping overhaul of

the law. Some compare the situation to Whac-A-Mole, the carnival game

where plastic moles keep popping out of holes even after a player smacks

one down.

" By the time the scientific community catches up to one chemical,

industry moves on to another and they go back to their playbook of delay

and denial, " said Deborah Rice, a former EPA toxicologist who works for

the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention....

- - - -

Chemical industry lobbyists keep stronger oversight plan at bay.

<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/flames/ct-met-regulators-sidebar-20\

120510,0,5230287.story>

By Hawthorne Chicago Tribune 10 May 2012

With efforts to revamp the nation's chemical safety law stalled in

Congress, the Obama administration's top environmental regulator vowed

three years ago to act on her own to beef up the oversight of toxic

substances. But key parts of the initiative by are still

bottled up in an obscure White House office under intense pressure from

industry lobbyists to back off.

Since sent the EPA's proposed changes to the Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs, the gatekeeper for federal rules,

industry representatives have met 18 times with administration officials

about the initiative, according to records posted on the White House

website....

PS: Note how the Chicago Tribune challenges the chemical industry while

seldom challenging the vaccinations industry in regards to similar

squelching of data regarding adverse effects.

PSS: This post may be forwarded hither & yon.