Do commercial products we have body contact with contain toxic chemicals? In too many cases, states and environmentalists are saying, the federal government forbids consumers from knowing.
"Just in time for the Oscars, the environmental group Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy is holding its own red-carpet event. An eco version of the Razzies, the Toxies will take place Wednesday at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood and hand out awards for 'bad actor' chemicals."
"Federal law forces companies to provide detailed information to U.S. EPA about the toxicity of the chemicals they use. But there is a catch. The same law -- the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA -- prohibits the agency from sharing that information with the public or even with state and local authorities. States are demanding that the law be changed."
"A new study has found that male frogs exposed to the herbicide atrazine -- one of the most common man-made chemicals found in U.S. waters -- can make a startling developmental U-turn, becoming so completely female that they can mate and lay viable eggs."
A Univ. of Florida researcher has found that endocrine-disrupting agricultural pesticides have harmed the health of Yaqui people in Mexico. Among the effects: girls developing breasts that lack mammary tissue needed to produce milk.
"Chemicals derived from flowers may sound harmless, but new research raises concerns about compounds synthesized from chrysanthemums that are used in virtually every household pesticide. For at least a decade, pyrethroids have been the insecticide of choice for consumers, replacing organophosphate pesticides, which are far more toxic to people and wildlife. But evidence is mounting that the switch to pyrethroids has brought its own set of new ecological and human health concerns."
A former Occupational Safety and Health Administration official requested the data under the Freedom of Information Act in 2005, but was denied. He sued, won in 2007, and now has the data, but OSHA has still not released the data to the public.
"As scientific evidence mounts against bisphenol-A, a chemical used in plastic baby bottles, soup cans and other containers, many states -- including Maryland -- are starting to take action to limit the chemical ahead of any federal regulation."
"Major U.S. foodmakers are quietly investigating how to rid their containers of Bisphenol A, a chemical under scrutiny by federal regulators concerned about links to a range of health problems, including reproductive disorders and cancer."
Two authors of the book "Slow Death by Rubber Duck" used themselves as subjects in a science experiment about the dangers of chemicals in everyday consumer products.
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