Outdated law means we're surrounded by toxic chemicals at home
EDF has long advocated for an overhaul of the outdated 35-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
TSCA's slack standards allow the majority of the 80,000 chemicals
available for use in the U.S. to stay on the market, even though they
have never been tested for health effects. They also allow chemicals known to be dangerous to continue to be used. See what we're doing to reform the law.
Continue Learning: http://www.edf.org/health/where-are-toxic-chemicals-your-home
In the editorial for the September 2013 Consumer Reports, CR President Jim Guest writes about the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act:
"In
theory it gives the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to
collect information about the hazards posed by chemicals and to take
action to control 'unreasonable risks'. In reality, collecting
information is all but impossible because of trademark secrets embedded
into the law; and controlling risks is so tied up in legalese that even
asbestos, long ago proved to cause cancer and other fatal diseases is
not banned in the U.S. There are now more than 83,000 chemicals and
classes of chemicals listed in the EPA inventory. In the years since the
act was passed, the agency has banned, limited or restricted the use of
five of those. Five. Does that mean that the manufacturers of the
other 82,995 have confirmed that they're safe to be in our food
containers, cleaning products, carpets and toys? No, it doesn't.
Manufacturers don't have to do a thing; the law requires instead that
the EPA prove that a chemical is not safe."
A common mantra of the "skeptics" crowd purports that industrial and
environmental chemicals are not necessarily a threat to humans, because
these chemicals exist at levels so low that their toxicity is moot. But a
new study published in The FASEB Journal suggests otherwise,
having found that exposure to even very low levels of chemicals is
dangerous, particularly due to their synergistic toxicity.
Individual chemicals may be deemed 'safe' at certain levels, but what happens when these chemicals combine?
But are individual chemicals the problem? Not necessarily. As it turns
out, it is the synergistic effect of chemicals in combination with one
another that poses the highest risk. And yet existing toxicology
assessment protocols fail to look at how individual chemicals affect
humans when they combine with other chemicals.
Pete Beisner knows a lot about supporting a partner in
pain. Here, he shares insights on how to take care of the person you
love.
So, I have two sets of tips. The first set of tips is for supporting
someone you love who has chronic pain. The second set of tips are
practical suggestions for how to support a woman in an episode of
critical pain, like just after she has had major surgery or a serious
injury. VA CAREGIVER SUPPORT
