CIEL testifies at congressional hearing on priorities for chemical safety

November 2009

CIEL Senior Policy Advisor Daryl Ditz testified before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection at a November 17, 2009 hearing on "Prioritizing Chemicals for Safety Determination." The event demonstrates intensifying interest in revamping the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

Drawing on international experiences with the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and the European Union's REACH legislation, Ditz urged lawmakers to grant EPA authority to take prompt action on persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals. This is necessary to protect the health of millions of Americans, and to enable the United States to implement and ratify the global POPs treaty.

In his remarks, Ditz also called on Congress to establish an orderly process for evaluating all chemicals against a health-based standard. He cautioned members, however, to "beware of any proposals that would give thousands of chemicals a free pass."

Dr. Ditz's testimony is available here. Audio of the two-hour hearing, including opening statements, testimony and questioning is available online.

CIEL is a member of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition, a broad-based group with more than 100 health, environmental and justice organizations working to reform U.S. policy on toxic chemicals.

For more information, please contact Daryl Ditz.