"Stricter Rules Urged on Toxic Chemicals"

"Americans are exposed to thousands of chemicals that are potentially harmful to their health, according to a broad coalition of labor, health, and environmental organizations calling for tougher federal toxics regulation.

The Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition seeks to rally support for soon-to-be introduced legislation that would reform the 34-year-old federal Toxic Substances Control Act. The coalition yesterday released a report highlighting scientific studies that link toxic chemical exposure to the rise of chronic diseases, including breast cancer and childhood cancers, learning and developmental disorders, reproductive problems, Parkinson's disease and asthma.

The report said that adoption of new health-based regulations to mandate chemical testing and ensure chemical safety would easily reduce the incidence of such chronic diseases by one-tenth of 1 percent and reduce direct health care costs by $5 billion a year in the U.S. and almost $200 million in Pennsylvania."

Don Hopey reports for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette January 22, 2010.