Regulation of Existing Chemicals
Though tasked with protecting the public from dangerous and potentially carcinogenic substances, some 62,000 chemicals were never tested by the EPA because they were not considered an "unreasonable risk." This gap in testing effectively grandfathered these chemicals into the TSCAs existing chemicals list. Testing and research on these chemicals is virtually non-existent, with only 200 of the more than 60,000 existing chemicals tested directly by the EPA.
The EPA has had only limited success controlling the chemicals they have tested and deemed dangerous to the public health. In fact, the agency has been successful in restricting only five chemicals (PCBs, chlorofluorocarbons, dioxin, asbestos, and hexavalent chromium) in its 35 year history, and the ban on asbestos was overturned in 1991. Many environmental groups, such as Natural Resources Defense Council, complain that the EPA is nearly powerless to take regulatory action against dangerous chemicals, even those known to cause cancer or other serious health effects.
Read more about this topic: Toxic Substances Control Act Of 1976
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