Tom Udall: “I rise on Earth Day to speak about our children and about chemical safety. We come in contact with thousands of…”

“I rise on Earth Day to speak about our children and about chemical safety. We come in contact with thousands of chemicals every day. As I am speaking now, millions of our fellow citizens are buying groceries or going to the hardware store or getting clothes or toys for their children. They assume the government has studied the chemicals in these products and determined they are safe. But that is not the case. The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, or TSCA, is supposed to protect American families, and it doesn't. There are over 84,000 known chemicals in manufactured and commercial products, and hundreds of new ones come on the market every year. How many of those products have been regulated by the EPA? Less than half a dozen. These are troubling numbers. TSCA has been in existence for almost 40 years, and out of 84,000 chemicals--and counting--less than a dozen are actually regulated. The EPA cannot even regulate asbestos, a known carcinogen. Since losing a court battle in 1991, they have not been able to regulate it. The risks and dangers have been around for decades, but there is no cop on the beat. TSCA has failed. Some States are trying to fill the gap by regulating a few chemicals, but my home State of New Mexico, and the vast majority of others, have no ability to test chemicals. They don't have a department to write regulations. Without a working Federal law, they have no protection.…”