Every day, the United States produces or imports 42 billion pounds of chemicals. Although anyone can be negatively impacted by chemical exposure, research has shown that children may be uniquely vulnerable to the effects of chemical exposure during the periods of fetal, infant, and child development. Yet, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is the agency that is supposed to protect us from toxic chemicals, lacks the information to make sure that potential health and environmental risks of new chemicals are identified. In fact, the EPA has only required testing for less than 200 of the 62,000 chemicals being used under federal rules! As a result, many of us continue to be exposed to toxic chemicals from our air, water and soil every day.

In 2002, Michigan released more than 18 million lbs. of chemicals that are suspected or known to negatively affect growing children, causing issues like developmental and learning disabilities. In addition, 25 million lbs. of suspected neurotoxicants (toxins that damage nerve tissue), and 54 million lbs. of toxicants that are suspected to harm the lungs and respiratory system were released into the air and water.

For years many environmental and public health organizations have insisted that The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which is the federal law the EPA is supposed to use to regulate industrial chemicals, has been very ineffective in protecting the public from exposure to toxic chemicals. Many government bodies have also concluded that TSCA has not been effective in properly assessing hazardous chemicals. Get more information on TSCA.

Because this gap in federal law continues to put us at risk for toxic chemical exposure, many state governments, including Michigan's, have sought to deal with the problem by regulating individual chemicals after health risks are recognized. With efforts to regulate individual chemicals underway, groups such as Clean Water Action are also seeking way to reform state law so that many or all of these toxic chemicals are never released in the first place, leading to a healthier, safer and more environmentally sound state.