NEW CHEMICALS:

EPA USES UNEQUAL PROTECTIONS & OUTDATED METHODS

Few people know that the responsibility for worker protections for NEW chemicals rests with the U.S. EPA.  Their EPA New Chemicals Program establishes initial worker and public protections and can require testing under conditions they specify in the table on this webpage. 

Glaring inequities in protection are clear in the table on the webpage.  The approach to workers is far less protective than protections afforded the general public.  Yet we know the most vulnerable people are ill-served by policies that don't protect parents or pregnant women.  Whether young or old, there is no justification for allowing workers to suffer greater harm from chemical exposures.  This is counter to good public health practice and ill-serves communities and our country. 

In the emerging realm of nanomaterials, reliance on outdated measures, such as chemical mass, to determine testing requirements makes no sense.  The ability of many new chemical forms, such as nanoforms, to cause biological disruption far exceeds those of their larger counterparts.

There is a critical need to update U.S. EPA policies on new and existing chemicals to insure that the public are adequately protected and that policies reflect 21st century realities.  Substantial policy advances in most developed countries address nanomaterials in ways that the U.S. has not adequately considered.  At present, there is no relevant safety policy in place for the management of highly reactive and potentially very dangerous nanomaterials that are being tested, manufactured, used, and disposed of in U.S. communities or workplaces.