Part Three of the “Your Personal Chemical Marinade Series.”
The strikingly ineffective chemical regulatory framework of the status quo– that of the TSCA discussed in Part Two– has no doubt given rise to some larger systemic issues. Most problematic are “the three gaps”: the chemical data gap, the safety gap and the technology gap (Wilson 2006). Although deeply interconnected and reinforcing, each deserves individual attention. The chemical data gap refers to the deficient availability of comprehensive and standardized toxicity information concerning the vast majority of the over 81,000 environmental chemicals in production and use. Absent such information, the chemicals market simply cannot produce an optimal outcome: the “deterrent function” of product liability is diminished and worker’s protection and compensation structures are stifled (Welker-Hood et al 2007: 9).
The safety gap, fueled by limited test data on the human and eco-toxicity of most environmental chemicals, refers to the harmful level of human and ecological exposure to persistent bioaccumulative toxicants (PBTs).[1] At its core is an EPA that has been handcuffed from taking action by the unreasonable evidentiary burdens placed on it by the TSCA. In the absence of sufficient information, government agencies are simply incapable of identifying and prioritizing chemical hazards.
Although it is beyond the scope of this series to provide an exhaustive account of the scientific linkages between public health and environmental chemicals – those exist elsewhere in the literature — it isn’t sufficient to proceed without providing a general overview. For starters, it is critical to establish the public health context within which much of the current research on environmental chemicals is being commissioned, mandated, or catalyzed. Indisputably, the 20th century saw a dramatic increase in the incidence of chronic disease. Caroline Baier-Anderson et al., in their important work entitled The Health Case for Reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act, provide some alarming evidence:
- A woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is now one in eight, up from one in ten in 1973.
- The cancer incidence among children overall has risen significantly over the previous two decades, particularly the incidence of childhood leukemia and brain cancer.
- Asthma approximately doubled in prevalence between 1980 and 1995, rising from approximately 4 percent to 8 percent.
- Autism diagnosis has increased more than 10 times in the last 15 years.
- Birth defect resulting in undescended testes has increased 200% between 1970 and 1993 (2010).
Much like the case with asthma, these increases led to a surge in research regarding the suspected linkages between environmental chemicals and various forms of health problems and chronic disease. Among the most notable and well-established findings of this emerging research concerns the acute impact that carcinogens, development and reproductive toxicants, mutagens and neurotoxics have on children (Commission for Environmental Cooperation 2006). Landrigan et al. have been able to approximate that the prevalence of certain chemicals in air, food, water and communities contributes to 100 percent of lead poisoning, 10 to 35 percent of asthma, 2 to 10 percent of particular cancers and 5 to 20 percent of neurobehavioral disorders in children (2002).[2] Further, specific examples of often-used chemicals with known human and ecological risks include naphthalene, royal demolition explosive (also referred to as RDX or hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitrotriazine), formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene and dioxin (Stephenson 2008).
Finally, the technology gap pertains to the depressed motivation of chemical manufacturers to invest in regenerated, green (environmentally safe), chemistry technologies. This is the unfortunate outcome of the coupling of limited toxicity data with a sluggish chemical regulatory system. Magnifying this dearth of market incentives is highly unsubstantial government investment in research and development of green chemistry, biotechnology and advanced materials, and in the education of scientists in this field.
These respective gaps, of course, don’t occur within a vacuum. Their impact is felt throughout many sectors and in a wide diversity of contexts. First, the chemical safety gap further strains our already broken health care system. It is estimated, for example, that the state of California alone could save $700 million per year by reducing human exposure to many known chemical hazards. This savings estimate is even somewhat conservative as it is based on an analysis that projects savings from merely reducing the incidence of chemical diseases by .1 percent. Savings increase to $5 billion a year when considering the U.S. as a whole(Baier-Anderson et al. 2010; CHANGE 2010). Further, the technology gap has contributed to U.S. businesses falling behind those in places like Germany in terms of developing safer chemicals and materials (Scott 2010).
A final, more recent, problem regarding our current chemical regulatory framework is that it doesn’t comply with new international regulatory regimes, such as the European Union’s (E.U.’s) new REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances) policy.[3] This, effectively, closes off from U.S. chemical manufacturers the world’s most lucrative market. According to Angela Logomasini of the Competitive Enterprise Institute: “The U.S. exports more than $20 billion in chemical products and invests more than $4 billion in the E.U. chemical and related industry sectors annually. In addition, U.S. firms export more than $400 billion in products containing chemicals, some of which may fall under the scope of REACH regulations” (2006).
[1] Michael P. Wilson, PhD, MPH, and the California Policy Research Center define Persistent Bioaccumaulative Toxicants (PBTs) as “chemicals that, by virtue of their structure are very slowly metabolized or excreted and therefore increase in concentration in the tissues and fluids of organisms. Some bioaccumulative chemicals are known to exert toxic effects; for most, toxicity is unknown. The exposure pathways for most bioaccumulative chemicals are also unknown. Many bioaccumulative chemicals are resistant to natural degradation processes, such as those induced by sunlight and bacterial activity, and therefore tend to persist in the environment. Some persistent chemicals can remain in the atmosphere for decades or centuries. Chemicals that are bioaccumulative, persistent, and toxic are particularly problematic because they can give rise to toxic effects over a greater period of time and over larger geographic regions” (2007: p. 3).
[2] Directly from Baier-Anderson et al. (which cites peer-reviewed science extensively), further chemical linkages to the incidence of chronic disease in humans: (1) “clinicians found that a history of toxic exposure was associated with cognitive decline [particularly Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s] at significantly younger ages” (2010: 10). (2) “Prenatal exposure to phthalates found in personal care products and in items made from vinyl has been linked to birth defects of the male reproductive system and feminized behaviors in boys” (2010: 13).
[3] REACH (EC 1907/2006) entered into legal force on June 1, 2007.
